Death Eraser
by GreyLiliy
Summary: Ryuk takes things into his own hands. [End of Series Spoilers. Ryuk & Light Main. Mikami, Matsuda, Misa Side]
1. Death Eraser

Read the Death Note Pilot. This demanded to be written. So I did. All there is to it. Thanks for R&R! -Author Notes at the bottom-

**Death Eraser**

Light's breaths came in deep gasps as the oxygen flooded his now moving lungs. He grasped at his face as he felt his now open eyelids. It was dark and cold, but it was a different sort of dark and cold. This felt real, like there was _something_ there. He could even see a faint square of light on the edges of whatever box was surrounding him. There were surfaces and he had flesh and his hand clutched the white shirt that clung to his cold body. Light's breaths were still short and gasping as his brain started receiving blood and it hit him that he was indeed _breathing._ He was _alive._

Which, was odd considering the last thing he remembered was watching Ryuk's grinning face as he died cursing everything from Near to his own stupidity for relying too much on Mikami. He could remember his heart stopping and the pain that had filled his chest as he suffered that far too ironic heart attack. He had died. Matsuda had shot him and Near had mocked him and Ryuk killed him. He remembered dying. But that wasn't the point. Light moved his arm up and felt the ceiling of his small enclosure with the palms of both his hands. Where was he? Ryuk said that when people died they turned into Nothing and went nowhere. There was no heaven and hell; Light was certain that's where he had ended up, but he sure as hell wasn't there anymore. The brunette's mind tried desperately to wrap around the situation, but he couldn't come up with an explanation. Only that he felt like he had been ripped in two and that it was still cold.

There was also that short tapping noise of a metallic nature that could be heard under his heavy, but appreciated, breaths. Light squinted his eyes towards the light at his feet and tapped the side of his mini-prison. It echoed the same metallic noise, so whoever was doing the tapping was outside his little box. Maybe if they heard him, they'd let him out. Even if it was Near he'd be happy to find out what the hell was going on. However, there was a sudden yank and Light's head hit the top of the metal box and he hissed in pain. The sliding continued until he found himself suddenly exposed to the light; and a very hideous face about an inch from his own. Light screamed; or he tried to scream. A clawed gangly black hand smothered his mouth and the sound.

"Nice to see you, too."

Light took deep breaths through his nose as he searched around the room. He was in a simple white room; sitting in a sliding drawer of some kind. There were tables with sinks around the room and odd tools. In front of him, skeletal hand still on his mouth, was someone he should be pissed at, but was too confused to manage it. He pulled a hand up to tug at the skinny arm but stared at his hands; they were a deathly white color. Like no blood had been pumped into them for a while; but considering Light was supposed to be dead that would make sense. Unlike everything else that was happening to him. Light looked around the room one more time quickly and came to a dreary conclusion: he was in a morgue.

"Calm now?" Ryuk chuckled at the confused and spooked human before pulling his hand back. He couldn't blame the kid; he had been dead for a few days. Getting yanked from _nothing_ can be quite taxing, especially when the host body's been cold and not used to working for a few days. Normally he'd let Light sit and adjust, but he sort of needed to hurry things along before that doctor guy came back. "You're lucky your wake and funeral got postponed a day or two. Otherwise you'd be a pile of ashes and that's hard to resurrect."

"Ryuk?" Light rubbed his chest again and felt his heart beating. He rubbed it to build up the warmth. Looking back up at the shinigami and at the room again, he found himself back where he started. Light was confused. "Ryuk-"

"We'll talk later." The shinigami interrupted and grabbed Light by the arm to pull him from the drawer. Dead bodies in drawers; humans were such a riot. "We gotta go."

Light's legs buckled under him when his bare feet hit the cold floor. Ryuk was dragging him from the room by his arm but he still didn't know what the hell was going on. He smacked into a metal table when Ryuk pulled him around a corner and he rubbed his side. "What?"

"I don't know when they're coming to get your body so we need to leave now." Ryuk rolled his eyes as his favorite human remained disoriented. He should have seen this coming and prepared better for it. Just a shame they hadn't left his body alone sooner; stupid humans crowding his things. "That doctor likes to come in and out all the time."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're supposed to be dead." Ryuk headed towards a large window at the end of the thankfully empty hallway. He'd just have to hope no one was out on the streets to spot a flying brunette in funeral garb. Though, that would be sort of funny to watch people pointing and screaming and stuff.

Light blinked and realized his arm was bruising from Ryuk's firm grip. The pain was helping him get a more solid grip on reality. That it mind, Light made note they were standing in front of a window while he asked his next question. "And I'm not?"

"Very good." Ryuk laughed and yanked Light up so he was forced to hold on around his neck from the jolt. He shoved open the window so he could get Light through as well (he really hated that humans and stuff couldn't phase through walls like he could) and did what he did best. "Hold on."

"Shit!" Light yowled when Ryuk leapt from the building and started gliding through the evening sky. There was no way this was real. He was still dead and suffering from the backlash of the insanity of absolute nothingness. That was it. Just a dream or something. Light clung to Ryuk's neck for fear of falling all the same. Despite what he was telling himself in his head, it sure felt real. And he could feel Ryuk's claws at his waist and thigh from where he was being held up. He looked down below him and his eyes widened. They were really, really high in the air. "Ryuk..."

"Calm down. You're going to strangle me clinging that tight." The shinigami snickered, but relaxed when Light's grip lessened just the tiniest bit. He knew that this was going to be a blast. Humans were far too much fun to play with. "I'm not going to drop you."

Light swallowed and calmed down after Ryuk's grip tightened. It seemed the shinigami was going to keep his word as far as the not letting him drop to a painful splat to the ground. He watched all the cars and people bustling down below his feet as they flew in the air too high to be spotted. His hair blew in his face and he risked pulling one arm down from Ryuk to brush it out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

"I brought you back to life." Ryuk looked down beneath him for a good spot to land. Light was talking to him, but it was clear his attentions were split between the view and the breeze through his hair. Or possibly the very long drop beneath them. Which was weird, because Ryuk distinctly remembered Light saying he wanted wings to fly. You'd think the kid would be ecstatic to get this chance. "We're gonna' land now."

"Okay." Light mumbled out as he felt the air whooshing up around him as they descended. It felt so good against his skin that it hurt. Ryuk landed in a small park in the middle of some trees and plopped Light on the ground under one with stray foliage hanging out in all directions. He tried standing on his own, but his legs refused to cooperate and Light fell flat on his butt. "Ow..."

"You okay?" Ryuk covered his mouth as he laughed. Light was pouting and had a pained, almost childish look on his face. It made him look much younger than he actually was; it reminded him of when Light was in high school before the police and his days as the new 'L.' And even then, Ryuk couldn't remember the last time he saw Light this out to sea, so to speak. It was almost cute; kinda reminded him of a puppy. "That looked like it hurt."

_It did._ He thought to himself, however Light kept his mouth shut and rubbed his back before looking up at Ryuk. He really was standing there in all his gangly, ugly glory. Ryuk looked exactly the same as he remembered and he even had that infernal notebook hanging at his waist like he always did. The sun was glinting off his rings on his hands and the boy turned his attention back to his own body. Specifically, Light looked down at his hands and noticed that the color was returning to it's usual shade and were no longer that ghastly white. Probably from all the blood that was suddenly pumping through his veins again. "You brought me back to life? Did I hear that right?"

"Ha, yup. Your hearing is just fine." Ryuk laughed and pulled out a little white rectangle and held it in front of Light's eyes. The boy's eyes narrowed and tried to focus on the tiny object. Ryuk laughed and clarified before Light could even get the question out. "With this."

Light's face scrunched as he took the object from Ryuk's hands and stared at it. If he didn't know any better, he would think it was just an ordinary, run of the mill, eraser. But he knew about regular, run of the mill, notebooks that could kill people, so he did know better. Just to be safe, Light ventured a query to clarify. "An eraser?"

"A Death Eraser."

Ryuk laughed out loud as Light lifted an eyebrow at him. The ex-Kira stared at the eraser and looked back up at the shinigami. "You've got to be kidding."

"No joke." Ryuk took the little eraser back from Light before the young genius completely regained his bearings. He was already getting that bit of ego and recognition back in his eyes and Ryuk only had one of these things. Getting a Death Eraser wasn't as easy as conning a Death Note out of a fellow shinigami. Ryuk made sure to slip the eraser back in its place in his belt loop and shoved it down so it didn't fall out. "As long as the body is fine and still in one piece, if you erase the name from the Death Note with that they'll come back to life. Neat, huh?"

"Wait." Light was thinking back on all the times he'd written names down and the ways shinigami could die and something just wasn't adding up. One would think that would have come up in the official rules somewhere. That seemed like an important loophole that required some sort of mention. Light narrowed his eyes and frowned at Ryuk. "I thought shinigami couldn't give life or they die? That's why Rem died, isn't it? Extending Misa's life span?"

Ryuk shrugged and flicked Light in the head. The young brunette swatted his hand away and Ryuk found himself chuckling again. "I didn't really extend your life span, you know. I just took your years when you died and gave them back when I erased your name. You're not living any longer than you were supposed to."

Light sat up straighter and looked down at the ground. He gripped the grass with his hands and enjoyed the texture. The slight dampness of the grass was soaking into his clothes and becoming distinctly uncomfortable. That could only mean one thing: "I'm alive."

"Yes."

"I'm not dead."

"Yes."

"Ryuk."

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that earlier!?"

Ryuk flinched. Yeah, Light was getting back to his old self; so much for puppy dog Light. "I forgot?"

"God, you're an idiot."

"I can always write your name back down, you know."

Light flinched and looked up with what resembled a pout on his face. "Sorry. Stressed from _dying_ is all."

"Yeah, well at least you're not in jail." Ryuk snickered as Light looked up at him and seemed to be pondering that statement. "Though, I might have to peak in and see their faces when they find out your body is missing."

Light hummed to himself and tried for standing again. He'd have to look up at Ryuk to talk to him anyway if he stood; but the distance wasn't nearly as far. Light's lets were unsteady, but he managed to keep his balance. "So, why'd you bring me back?"

Ryuk scratched his head. "I was bored."

Light laughed and wiped his hand down his face. "Is that it?"

"Pretty much." Ryuk poked the human in the chest. He flinched and rubbed the spot tenderly. "It was only a day and I felt like that period where you had given up the Death Note all over again. The only difference was this time I didn't have your return to look forward to."

"You didn't have this planned out at all when you first wrote my name down?" Light held his head and pondered that. He was back because of a whim of a shinigami who was forgetful as sin. How did you forget something like a _death eraser _that brings people _back to life._

"Well, I had remembered about it when Matsuda was shooting you. It just sort of popped into my head." Ryuk chuckled. "I guess I decided to do it then because it was the only thing I could think of to get you out of it without expanding your life span and still having some fun afterwards. Plus, like I said: It's really boring when you're not around."

Light blinked before getting a rather smug smirk on his face. He put a delicate hand to his chest and cocked his head to the side. "You knew you were going to miss me that much, Ryuk? I'm touched."

"Ha, you wish." Ryuk snorted and stretched his arms out. "I was going to miss the apples."

"The apples."

"Yup."

"You brought me back from the dead and snuck me out of a morgue, for apples."

"'Bout sums it up."

"You're hopeless." Light shook his head and looked up to watch the setting sun in the sky as the warm reds and yellows painted the blue a new shade. Felt the cool breeze on his neck, and lingered beneath the shadow of a god of death. He was alive and he couldn't have felt better. "But, thank-you."

"No problem."

* * *

Death Eraser: Just as Ryuk described - if you erase the name from the Death Note with it, the person will come back to life under the assumption that their body is still in one piece and fine. While not featured in the Death Note Manga and Anime series that most readers are familiar with; it is included in the Death Note Pilot that features young Kagami Taro and Ryuk which started the series.

AN: The Death Eraser is so cool. I saw it in the pilot and my first reaction was 'why is that not in Death Note?' before realizing that Light did NOT need that feeding his ego. Though, watching him kill L and bring him back to life, to kill him again would have been amusing. But I digress. I read the pilot and all I could think of was Ryuk bringing Light back to life at the end of the series. I ended up writing it before I could stop myself and I needed another fic to work on like a hole in the head. Heh. Either way, thanks for reading and reviewing!


	2. Getting Up On Your Feet

Ack; I have no time and I need to go to bed. XD Ignore any typos! And I love the three M's – Mikami, Matsuda and Misa. :D Hurrah!

**Getting Up On Your Feet**

"Could you repeat that?" Near spoke sharply as his fingers clutched around a puzzle piece. He was going over the final paperwork from the Kira case so that he could compensate and settle matters with the Japanese Task Force when Gevanni came in with some less than wonderful news. Near set the piece of the puzzle down slowly while reaching for his bangs with his free hand. The young detective, now with the proper title of 'L,' was not amused.

"Light Yagami's body is missing from the morgue."

"I see."

Stephen Gevanni stood motionless as he hovered behind his pale boss sitting on the floor with his toys scattered about in the dim control room. Near had his usual blank expression on his face which did not help the SPK member in trying to figure out if the other was angry or could not care less. Gevanni cleared his throat as he continued. "Yes, it was reported missing at around seven o'clock yesterday night."

"So it was stolen then?" Near tilted his head to the side and started going through possibilities in his head. Chances were high that a member of the Task Force would be most likely to have taken the body. Matsuda was at the top of his list as he was the most emotional at the capture, though he would not have put it past them to have a group effort. Misa Amane was also a possibility considering her own obsession with the man and the trauma she experienced upon finding out it was dead. If he remembered correctly, Mogi made sure there was a suicide watch posted that he could contact to discover is she had an alibi. Mikami was out of the question as he was in jail and accounted for, though there were other issues to deal with concerning that madman.

"We're unsure, sir. The whole situation is rather, unusual." Gevanni sighed and looked down at his file. He had made sure to research the scene thoroughly before reporting to Near, but he still was coming up short. To be blunt, it was the only reason he even brought it to Near's attention that Kira's body was missing. Had it just been stolen by a fanatic, he doubted the detective would care at all. "It was reported missing, but no one knows what happened to it. There were no prints found at the scene outside of the coroners."

"Why is that unusual? It's not hard for a criminal to wear gloves and be careful." Near paused with a sigh and stared at his puzzle. It was about 85 complete and he figured he could have it finished by the time this conversation was over. "Cameras? Surely the morgue had surveillance tapes."

"No usable footage." Gevanni coughed into his hand and pulled a tape out of the package in his hand. "This is a copy of all the footage from the when it was last confirmed Yagami was in the drawer to when he was discovered missing. However, it doesn't' do us much good. Someone put an apple in front of the cameras from just the right angle. You can't even see their hand putting the object in place."

Near sighed. Someone had an interesting sense of humor; though he wondered how someone not related to the Kira case would understand the irony of an apple. Maybe it was just coincidence. Near twisted his hair around a finger with a bored expression. This whole thing was more annoying than interesting. "That hints at an inside job."

Gevanni flipped another page on his report and nearly sighed again. "All staff is accounted for and everyone checked out with a proper alibi. We really do not have any idea how the body got out of the morgue. It's why we brought the case to you. Even if the body did not belong to Kira, it would still be a strange occurrence."

Near slid his eyes to the side to look at the young man holding the report and raised an eye-brow. Either this really was worth looking into, or his team has been slacking since the end of the Kira case. Regardless, there should be at least_ some_ evidence at the crime scene. His men were the best, how could they not find anything? "Are you saying the body just disappeared, then? That's highly unlikely and we know the camera was tampered with. Therefore, someone must have taken it."

Gevanni shrugged and suddenly laughed at the first thing that popped into his head. "That or it got up and walked away."

Near ignored Gevanni's moment of stupidity. "Are you positive there are no prints of any kind?"

Gevanni looked through the report again. He had read it five times already and the information given didn't reveal a thing. "None on the drawers or equipment."

"Did you dust the floor?"

"The floor?"

"For footprints."

Gevanni paused and swallowed. He should have thought of that as well. "There were no shoe indentions."

"Has anyone been on the scene?"

"No, sir."

"Dust the entire floor." Near paused and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "And the hallways. And supervise personally. I want you there."

"Of course." Gevanni left the report on a side table and gave a short bow. He should have known this was coming. Maybe he'd call Linder to help out if he managed to find anything. "I'll excuse myself then."

Near nodded as his man left and reached for a loose puzzle piece. He snapped it into place while biting his lip. Chances are that regular police swept the scene and Near had little faith in them. If the scene was where their evidence was located, than that's where they should start. If you don't find it on a first look, look harder.

-----

"Ryuk, if you mention apples one more time I'm going to find some way to hit you." Light growled as he tried to hide himself behind a tree. After the shock and relief at finding himself up and breathing again, Light found himself with another slew of problems. For starters, he didn't have any real clothes and the robe he was wearing now hardly qualified. Add in the fact he didn't have a cent on him and Light was having a rather off morning. Sleeping on the ground all night under a tree hadn't exactly made his day either. His back was sore. "I need clothes and money to buy apples. So let me think!"

"Jeez, you don't have to be so crabby." Ryuk huffed. Light had gone to sleep soon after they had escaped from the morgue to get his strength back, and he was definitely showing signs of his old before-death self. Ryuk missed the almost drug-like state he was in earlier. It had been funny. "I just want an apple."

"Ryuk." Light snarled. Thankfully, there were not many people in the park that morning, but Light still had to be cautious. He tried to steer the conversation away from the red colored fruit while he watched for possible passerby. "Why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be haunting the Death Note owner?"

Ryuk shrugged and stretched his arms over his head. "That crazy guy is sitting in jail mumbling to himself. It's boring. Besides, I hung out with you anyway when he had the Death Note and you were still Kira."

"I'm surprised you didn't kill him." Light smirked and pulled back behind the tree slightly when a couple passed by them on a path. "Or that he hasn't given up the Death Note by now."

"Eh, isn't much of a point, and no he won't give it up." Ryuk snickered. "For one reason or another."

"So, Near hasn't burnt the Death Notes yet?" Light hummed as he took in his surroundings. He'd have to think of something good to pawn some money or clothes from a total stranger. It's not like he could go home and say 'Hi!' Though, depending on the security he might be able to get into his apartment. Assuming Misa wasn't there or something. He wasn't looking forward to that reunion, though a voice in his head was telling him she might be his only reliable contact. "Or has he?"

"Nope. Still got them in a vault."

"That's odd." Light snorted. "Or he's not as honest as we think he is."

"Could be." Ryuk was getting sick of Light sitting here and not doing anything. So, Ryuk started whining. Annoying Light always got some of the best reactions. "Can we hurry this up?"

Light rolled his eyes. "You really want this to go faster?"

"Yes! I want my apples."

"Than go steal a wallet without someone noticing. Or get me some clothing."

"Why didn't you just ask for that in the first place?"

"I didn't think you'd do it." Light rolled back from the three to lean and pulled his robe in tighter on himself. It was a tad chilly in the mornings. "Than again, I forgot you'd do almost anything for apples."

"I could just let you stay naked."

"Shut up."

-----

Misa sat in her chair, eyes slightly glazed, unmoving. She had been in this position for quite some time after she had finished crying. The mascara was still staining her cheeks as she refused to shower or stand up. Mogi would come in once in a while to watch her and double check to see if he had left any harmful or sharp objects in the room. Misa thought the sentiment was nice in the corner of her mind, but she was so in shock from the news to care or express her gratitude.

Light was dead.

Mogi and the rest of the Task Force had broken the news to her shortly after it had happened. They made her come see the dead body to convince her after she had screamed and threw a fit that they were lying. Her Light was really, truly dead and cold sitting in the drawer. She could still see the bullet wounds from where, if she heard correctly, Matsuda had shot him. "Light was Kira and he had to die," is what they told her. Not that any of this mattered to Misa; she had always supported Kira and hoped that Light and he were the same.

It still didn't change the fact that her Light had been snatched away from her. Misa was still wearing the engagement ring Light had bought for her. Misa refused to ever take it off and fingered it lightly as she continued to stare forward. Misa had yet to decide if she was going to attend the funeral.

"Misa-san?" Ide knocked lightly on the side of the bedroom doorway. Mogi had asked him to watch Misa for him while he met with Aizawa to cover some paperwork. Even though they now knew the young lady was the second Kira, it was obvious that she had no memory of the events and had given up the notebook. Everyone was worried about her, even Aizawa. Ide blamed his worry on the fact the man was a father of a daughter. "You need to eat something."

Misa remained quiet and shifted her eyes to the window to look outside. A few birds were flitting around the leaves. Misa wasn't hungry.

"I'll come back later, then." Ide sighed and shut the door. At least she wasn't crying anymore.

Misa continued to stroke her ring and wonder why this world could get away with taking the one hope that it had away.

-----

"Well, it's not the best fit but it'll have to do." Light looked at the outfit he had changed into dejectedly. The best Ryuk could do without anyone noticing floating objects in the air was a janitorial one-piece uniform that someone had left hanging in the back of a laundry cart. He had found a pair of sandals at an outside shop and Light's only regret was that they were almost too small for his feet. Unlike the jumpsuit that hung off his frame; Light rolled up the sleeves so they didn't engulf him in a sea of fabric. The smell was causing him to grimace, but there wasn't much he could do about it. "What about money?"

"Too risky. I figured you could do that yourself." Ryuk snickered as he watched Light fumble about in the new outfit. It was even more hilarious when he remembered Light didn't have any undergarments. Humans were so fussy about those things; the human had thrown a fit when he realized Ryuk didn't even bother looking for any. Though, Ryuk doubted Light would have worn used underwear anyway. The shinigami was still surprised he was wearing the sweat soaked clothing.

"At least I'm not wearing that white thing anymore." Light shuddered. There was something really wrong about wearing a death shroud now that it was off of his person. "Let's get going. We need somewhere else to stay tonight."

"Like where?"

"I don't know, maybe I can find a hostel or something." Light shoved his hands into the pockets and started walking along the streets. He wished he had a hat or something to hide his face, but he'd have to stick with keeping his stride from gaining too much unwanted attention. Though, his outfit was getting more looks than he cared to admit. "Just stay quiet for now."

Ryuk was more than happy to hover behind the boy silently as he watched Light look for potential targets. He'd never seen Light steal anything before so it'd be interesting if he could pull it off. Though, if the shinigami wanted apples, he'd have to hurry things along. The shinigami started scanning the area for an easy target and chuckled when he found one in plain sight. "Oh, that lady left her purse."

Light's eyes shifted in the direction Ryuk was pointing and sure enough there was an open purse sitting on a table as a woman walked back up to the register with a lunch ticket. The café looked pretty empty so Light took his chances and reached into the purse for the wallet as he walked by.

"Thief!"

"Shit." Light grabbed the entire purse and started to walk quickly in the opposite direction of the café and the screaming woman pointing at him. Light's only thankful thought was she was too busy screaming to do anything. Though, it didn't stop him from cursing in his mind over and over that he had gotten caught so quickly. He was a genius for goodness' sake!

"You might want to run, there's a guy jogging up behind you." Ryuk chuckled as Light started dashing. The man started to follow in pursuit right behind him and Ryuk laughed all the while before flying a little higher. "Hey Light, take a left at the next alley. There's a hole in the wall."

Light was going to give Ryuk all the apples he could eat if he made it through this without getting arrested. _Oh how the mighty have fallen. _

-----

They thought he was crazy.

Mikami knew better. Giving up the Death Note would be suicide. Keeping the Death Note was suicide. Either way the coin flipped, Mikami was going to die. Well, if one was going to die they might as well keep the supernatural powers, right? The lawyer smirked as he watched the life-spans of the inmates walk by his cell. It had taken a while, but he had finally cracked the shinigami time code floating over people's heads. It had been a fun hobby of his while sitting at work since he had gotten the eyes. That guy would live for another five hours, the other fifty years. Mikami wasn't sure which one he felt more sorry for.

The man looked down at his own chest, arms strapped snugly inside of the straight-jacket. It was kind of them to let him remain without a blindfold so that he could see. After the extensive cavity search, bath, and second search Mikami was left humiliated and without anything that could possibly be used as a weapon be it paper or pen. They even made him throw up the contents of his stomach. Not that he cared.

His God was dead.

And he didn't just mean the physical death of Light Yagami. Oh no, God had died the moment he realized that which he worshiped was a pathetic sack of flesh with the same weakness that rotted the rest of the planet. Mikami would not make the same mistake again, though he knew God was out there somewhere. Just not on this earth. Kira was no God.

Mikami told himself that in his head over and over to justify himself and smother his own guilt. After he had time to think, it occurred to him that the reason God failed and died such a miserable, humbling death was because he had screwed up. Had he just done what he was told and not bothered to kill Takada, than everyone at that warehouse would be dead save for him and God, no Light Yagami.

Mikami wondered where Ryuk had flitted off to. Wasn't the shinigami supposed to kill him? It was another thing for Mikami to distract his thoughts with while awaiting his trial. Trial. Ha. A dog and pony show to be sure. They needed a face to crucify with the original Kira dead and Mikami was sure he would fill those shoes.

"So this is the mighty, Kira?" A guard chuckled as he stood outside of the broken man's cell. An inside friend of his had let it slip that they were keeping Kira in his prison, and there he was. The raven haired man didn't look so tough. "Having fun?"

Mikami looked up slowly and let a small grin crawl across his face. "You're going to die in two years."

-----

"Wow, never seen you run so fast." Ryuk laughed as Light clutched the purse behind a building. The alley was empty and thankfully that damn man from the café had stopped chasing him. He stared down at the purse and finally pulled out the wallet. "You've got to be kidding." Light snarled at the wallet. "Six-thousand yen? That's it?"

"How many apples will that buy?" Ryuk stared a the tiny wad of bills Light was holding and put a finger to his mouth. He tried not to drool.

Light nearly moaned as he rubbed his temples. He needed another way to get money that wasn't so degrading. Than he could get cleaned up, get a hold of some resources, and possibly get revenge on Near and that whole damned task force. Granted, he couldn't do any of that unless he got money, because at least if he got money he could buy fake identification and get a job or something. "It better buy a lighter so I can burn the evidence."

"Sometimes I think you're a pyro, Light."

"Shut up, Ryuk." Light looked up at the pouting shinigami staring at the money in his hands with wide eyes. Intensely; Ryuk was also twitching. "Fine. I'll go buy some apples."

"About time."

"Or maybe I'll spend it on shoes that fit." Light smirked.

"I'm going to regret bringing you back to life, aren't I."

"You have no idea. And if you don't, Near and those other traitors will."

-----

"Matsuda, for the last time." Aizawa braced his arms on the table across from his fellow officer. The man hadn't left his home since they had gotten back from the warehouse. Aizawa knew the man was in shock from Light being Kira, but it shouldn't have come as this big of a surprise. It was obvious Light was Kira from back when L was around. "You need to get out of this apartment."

"I know," Matsuda sighed as he turned a cup of coffee in his hands. "I just need a little time. You know? It's all still sinking in. Light was Kira and I shot him and now I'm not sure if what I did was right and I just feel...weird."

"Weird?" Aizawa shook his head. Matsuda was too much of a nice guy; he really was. The older man couldn't stand to see him this way. "What you did was right? Matsuda, he was dangerous and going to kill all of us."

"That's not what I mean." Matsuda swallowed. "When I was shooting I really wanted to kill him. I've never felt like that before and it scared me to the point where I was numb. I didn't even think I_ could_ feel that way." Matsuda took a sip of coffee; it had turned lukewarm since it had been sitting. "I just don't know anymore."

"Okay, I'll give you some more time, but." Aizawa paused and walked around the table to put a hand on his shoulder. "If you're not out of here by the end of the week and coming to see us at the office we're going to come get you."

"Okay." Matsuda forced a smile. "I've got it. I'll be in on Friday with donuts."

"Sounds good."

Matsuda watched Aizawa leave and wished he could muster up the energy to be happier or to look on the bright side of things. Kira was gone, Mikami was in jail, Near was the new L, and they were alive. He should be happy, but, crime would go up again, he didn't trust Near, Misa-Misa wasn't smiling anymore, and the Yagami family was short a son. Matsuda didn't want to see Sayu and Mrs. Yagami crying.

Matsuda wiped a tear away from the corner of his own eye. And he wished that he could _stop _ crying.

-----

"Did you finish, then?" Near asked as Gevanni entered the room with Linder tailing behind him. He must have recruited the woman's assistance after being dismissed at their last meeting. "What are the results."

Gevanni licked his lips before taking a deep breath. Linder rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, but he ignored her. He wouldn't have brought her in to help if not for his findings. "We dusted the floor as requested."

"And?" Near turned to look up at his staff, though it was through his hair as he played with the bangs.

"We found footprints that led out into the hallway and to the window on the fourth story."

"Did you find a match."

Gevanni took a deep breath. Near was not going to like this. "Yes."

Near almost glared as the SPK member hesitated with the answer. "Who?"

"Light Yagami."


	3. Blame Game

Forgive any typos, I'm tired of looking at this and I need to go to sleep. I'd proof it later, but it's been eating a hole in my hard drive so to speak; it wanted to be uploaded. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! It only gets better from here. :D

**Blame Game**

Near looked up from his toy figures when Gevanni and Linder entered with Touta Matsuda behind them. After running through the figures, the rest of the task force and Misa were accounted for and had proper alibi during the period of time when Light Yagami's body went missing. Misa was under supervision with Mogi and Ide while Aizawa was at home with his wife and child. That left only one main suspect to clear or convict. Besides, if the culprit was going to fake Light Yagami coming back to life by leaving his footprints, than he must have had a strong connection to Kira. "Do you regret your actions in shooting Kira, Light Yagami, four days ago?"

"Ah," Matsuda started. He was on his way to visit everyone at the office with donuts, as promised, when Ms. Linder stopped him. Before he knew it he was shoved into a car by her grumpy partners Rester and Gevanni and standing before the new L, Near. Matsuda frowned. He didn't even know why he was here and Near was asking him odd questions straight off the bat. "Well, maybe. I'm not really sure if I do or not right now." The young detective paused; hands clutching the box of donuts he was still holding.

Near raised an eyebrow as he poked a little figurine of Kira that he had saved from the past week. It tipped over and rolled on the not-so-flat floor. Matsuda's hesitation was suspicious, but it could also be the man's stupidity. "From what I understand, you were always very fond of Light Yagami. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Matsuda spoke with his eyes downward; breathing deep as he tried to keep his calm. His eyes were watering in the back of his eyes, but he kept it together. Matsuda had nothing to be ashamed of. "The whole family."

"It has also come to my attention," Near paused as he looked up through white bangs; he cracked a tiny smirk in the corner of his lip. The other man was clearly distraught and had an air of guilt about him. Near just needed to find out what it was he felt guilty about. "That you were also seen as a border line Kira supporter. Is that description also accurate?"

Matsuda grit his teeth together under the piercing stare. Why was he here? It seemed as if he was only hear to be belittled for no reason. And just when he had been feeling better! Matsuda looked up and took a deep breath. "I had expressed my opinion that crime had gone down since Kira arrived, but I did not support him."

"From my reports, it states that you always got excited when Kira was in the news. Specifically when they chose a spokesman for Kira or when you were designing his name plate for the fake broadcasts." Near's voice was like ice as it clipped through the room. He watched Matsuda's hand twitch and took note. "Your actions were described as 'excited' and 'cheerful.' Those don't sound like emotions that would be associated with someone who does not support Kira."

Matsuda took a thick swallow and tried not to crush the donut box with his tense hands. "I think the ideal Light wanted was correct, but how he did it was wrong. I won't lie about that." Matsuda looked up at the young boy on the floor in the white pajamas. His voice rose with anger as he continued. "What are these questions about? Why am I here?"

"Matsuda, where were you two nights ago around 7:00PM?"

Matsuda had to pause at the direct question that seemed to be unrelated. He answered reflexively through the sudden confusion. "I was at home."

"Can you confirm that?"

"No." Matsuda frowned and looked down at the donuts. "I was alone."

Near tilted his head. No alibi. The chances of Matsuda being the guilty party increased by about twenty percent. Though, he still had Matsuda's intelligence to consider. The man didn't seem capable enough to get away with something this complex. "I see."

The young detective had about enough of this game. Matsuda bent the box when he took a few steps forward to confront Near. Granted, he still swallowed nervously as he continued his confrontation. "You never answered my question."

"Two nights ago around 7:00PM the body of Light Yagami went missing from the morgue." Near tilted his head to look at the shocked face of Touta Matsuda to look for any sign that might give him away. So far only confusion littered the man's features. "The criminal that stole the body used Kira's body like a puppet to leave his footprints on the floor. They wanted it to look like he walked away."

"Huh?" Matsuda almost dropped the box he was holding. Light's body was missing? But, he was dead; that didn't make any sense.

Near pulled a piece of his hair and wrapped it around his finger in a bored fashion, but his mind was smug and racing. "It's quite the unique case."

"But, but why am I here?" Matsuda slumped. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Near picked up a small figurine of Matsuda that had been sitting behind his foot. He tilted it towards his head with a smirk. "You're our number one suspect."

-----

"Excuse me, Madam." Light smiled sweetly while running a hand through his greasy hair. If he flattened it just right, he could get it to look gelled instead of the filthy mess that it was. "I was wondering if you could lend me some change to use a pay phone to call a ride home? I seem to be lost."

His clothes were filthy, and he smelled of formaldehyde, but those pretty brown eyes and perfect smile worked wonders on this old woman's heart. He reminded her of her grandson the last time he tried to make it on his own and failed. She was reaching inside of her wallet for a few dollars before she could stop herself. "Here you go young man. Why don't you take a taxi."

"You are truly a saint, I couldn't accept." Light desperately kept the smirk off of his face. Women were far, far too easy. "A few quarters is all I need."

"No." The woman shoved the bill into the boy's hands. Such a poor, darling man! "I insist that you take it."

"Well, only if you insist." Light bowed in thanks as the woman waved and walked off before he could 'give it back.' He turned himself to walk in the opposite direction (towards a popular taxi drop off no less to keep up appearances) and let the smirk fall on his face. This was far easier than stealing purses. He'd already made a few thousand yen in the past hour. "Too easy."

"I'll never know how you manage to do that." Ryuk chuckled as he floated above Light. He stretched his long arms and scratched aimlessly at his gut. "Though, you might want to think of a plan to get that Death Note back soon."

Light looked up at the shinigami through his peripheral before sticking his hands into the side pockets. He made sure to stick the money as far down the pocket as it would go to secure it. "What's the rush?"

"Let's just say that crazy dude's ownership isn't going to be for much longer." Ryuk chuckled. He was pushing the rules as is; but if Mikami died on him than he had no reason to stick around on earth. As long as that book was in a safe, than no one would gain the new ownership and chances were high that River kid would destroy the notebook the moment Mikami died. "He was arrested as Kira after all. I'll let you figure out the rest."

Light stopped walking and nearly slapped himself in the face. Of course! Mikami was going to be executed. And once that happened than whatever reason Near had for not burning that notebook would be gone. Mikami being the owner was the only plausible reason he could think of for saving the book. Besides, he had his own bone to pick with that lawyer. "You're right."

"So, any ideas?"

"Find where Near's keeping it. Steal it back. Go smack Mikami upside the head and kill him myself." Light summed up his marvelous plan and started to look around for another target. He needed another couple thousand to buy a new outfit that didn't make him look like a homeless bum.

Ryuk chortled and held his gut. "That sounds a bit simple for one of your plans."

"Oh shut up." Light smoothed his hair again and prepped his face when he saw another potential target come into view. It was a middle aged woman with a fat purse and a few rings on her fingers; she had cash to burn. He smiled and bowed his head a little to look humble. "Excuse me, Ma'am?"

"You know," Ryuk started as he watched Light saunter up next to the housewife and flash his smile. It was the same trick he used on all women, and it always worked. He just had that much charisma; Ryuk would be jealous but certain rules kept him from really caring. "You'd make more money if you just screwed the old ladies instead of just begging." Ryuk laughed when Light nearly lost his edge from the sudden suggestion of prostituting himself. Boy practically choked on his own tongue from the shock. Though, when the lady scowled at Light and walked away saying 'wierdo' Ryuk shrunk back from the glare. "Uh, what?"

"You're so not getting any apples."

It was Ryuk's turn to choke in shock.

-----

"Thank-you, Mogi-san." Misa spoke softly as she took the cup from the older man's hand. They had finally conned her out of her room, but she didn't feel much like herself. Though, Mogi-san was acting weird for some reason. "Is something wrong?"

Mogi looked up from his own cup off coffee and frowned. To tell or not to tell? That was the question. He shook his head at the girl and she turned down to sip at the coffee. They had finally gotten her out of her room; finding out her love's body was stolen would just send her right back in. They had all agreed not to mention it to her if they could help it.

"Have they had Light's funeral yet?" Misa asked softly. It had been three or four days and she was unsure of how soon since his death they were going to have it. At first, the idea of going to his funeral had been almost impossible, but as she calmed down the more she wanted to be there. "I'm thinking I might go after all."

Mogi shook his head silently. He would have lied, but he was pretty sure that the funeral would take place after they found the body. Besides, if she was willing to go to the funeral that meant she was getting better. Misa smiled softly and looked as if she was going to say something else, but looked up when the door to her kitchen opened. Mogi nodded at Aizawa and Ide as they came in.

"Hello, Misa. How are you today?" Aizawa asked grudgingly. He was still off about keeping the second Kira around without punishment, but Near had said to just let her be. He kept polite for the sake of the others that had grown fond of her. "Any troubles?"

"No, I'm feeling much better." Misa nodded. She tilted her head though and looked at the two of them. Mogi came and visited her all the time, and sometimes it was Ide, but Aizawa almost never came over. It was sort of weird; Misa was sure Aizawa didn't like her. "How come you're here? Not that I mind."

"We came to talk to Mogi." Aizawa pulled out a chair and took a seat. "An intervention might be necessary, my friend."

"Intervention?" Misa asked for the quiet man as she looked between the two of them.

Ide nodded at the blonde. "Matsuda said he'd come by the office today to see everyone. We weren't going to make him work, but he needs to get out of the house."

Misa nodded again. She knew that Matsuda had also taken Light's death very badly from what the others had mentioned. Almost worse than she had. In fact, Matsuda had not once come to visit her since it happened and she _knew_ that he liked her. "He didn't show up?"

"No." Aizawa leant back in his chair and rubbed his fingers together anxiously. "He's not answering his phone either."

"Is he at home?"

Ide sighed and shook his head sadly. "No. We stopped by already."

"Maybe he got distracted by something?" Misa pouted and Mogi's face started to frown next to her. "He did seem like the type to get distracted by things quickly."

"We hope that's all it is." Aizawa frowned and stretched his legs out under the table. Matsuda had told him he'd visit everyone today. Maybe he did get distracted or fell asleep in a donut shop somehwere. He really, really hoped that was all. Matsuda was an idiot, but his co-workers and friends were really hoping he didn't do anything _stupid._

-----

Light felt like a million bucks in his new outfit. His hair was clean, his face was clean, and he had spent the last thirty minutes convincing the store clerks he did in fact had money despite how he looked so they'd let him try on clothes. The janitorial uniform was folded neatly on the chair. Light wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling he should hold onto them. Maybe he could use his loose change to clean them in a laundromat or something.

"We all know you're pretty." Ryuk snorted from through the doorway. Half of his body was in the hallway; he didn't fit in the cramped room. "Let's move it already."

"I'm taking my time. Deal with it." The young genius mumbled as he tried to comb his hair with his fingers. Light had hit the jackpot in the form of a loaded wallet earlier; over 100,000 yen. The young brunette had been trying to avoid theft, but the rich bastard was just asking to get his pockets pinched. That's what he got for warning that old lady about Light's little con before he could get her money. Little did that jerk know that while he was lecturing Light a certain apple-crazed shinigami had lifted his wallet. Light smiled at his reflection in the changing room mirror; the v-neck sweater over a white button up shirt and khaki slacks had always looked good on him. "We do make a nice team, though, Ryuk."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and buy those so we can get my apples!" The shinigami whined. Light needed to spend less time in the mirror and more time shopping. Ryuk went through all the trouble to get him the money and he was still captivated by his own vanity. "I still can't believe you washed your hair in the sink of that gas station."

"Well, it was dirty." Light huffed and almost put his hands on his hips. Almost. "What did you expect me to do?"

"I don't know." Ryuk shrugged. "Can we buy these and go get the important stuff?"

"Fine." Light picked up his clothes and transferred the money to the pockets. A quick trip to the counter and he could pay for the items, wear them out and get Ryuk his stupid apples. Light's stomach, as if on cue, growled almost immediately afterwards. "I guess I'm a little hungry, too." Light almost laughed.

"Yes! So let's go!" Ryuk started to curl his arms up over his head. Light was being so mean making him wait!

"Relax, I'm going. I'm going." Light chuckled as he made sure the changing room door was open for the next customer. Old clothes under sleeve, Light headed for the cash register. Things were finally starting to look up.

-----

Thanks to Mikami's little stunt informing the guard of his death day, he was now graced with a blindfold. The prosecutor sat in his cell with his head against the wall. While the frightened look on the guard's face may have been worth it, it was now unbearably quiet and dark in the dingy little cell. He wondered when his trial would be and if they had planned his execution already.

This was all Light Yagami's fault.

Yes, Mikami had finally rid himself of the slips to refer to that boy as 'God.' He was human like the rest. That kid (Even if he was in his twenties; Mikami was older than him!) should be the one rotting in the cell. Mikami tried to glare through his blindfold. When he died he was making it his priority to hunt that Light Yagami down and beat his soul in.

"Teru Mikami."

Mikami tilted his head to the side when he heard his name spoken by a familiar voice. He decided to humor them. "Yes?"

Gevanni coughed into his hands as he stood next to the cell bars. Near had sent him down here to question Mikami on any other possible reasons for Kira's body to disappear. After reluctantly letting Matsuda go with only a 10 chance that he had been the culprit, Near was forced to consider supernatural forces. For all they knew those who used the Death Note's body would disintegrate after use. That didn't explain the footprints, but they were grasping for straws. "I have a few questions for you."

Mikami almost laughed and turned his head towards the sound of the voice. Stephen Loud was it? Yes. That's where he had heard that voice before. "I do not regret what I have done. I only regret putting my faith in a mortal."

Gevanni sighed. "That's not what I was going to ask."

"Then what do you want, then?"

"After a Death Note user dies, was there anything specific the Shinigami may have shared with you that happens to your body?" Gevanni got straight to the point. Though he didn't expect the mad man in the cell to answer.

Mikami scrunched his face at the odd question. How should he know? He barely acknowledged the monster after he had explained all the rules. "No."

Gevanni figured as much and turned away. "Thank-you for your time."

"Mr. Loud."

Gevanni paused at the announcement of his real name. He debated answering the other man and confirming what he apparently already knew. That was a pretty good memory if he remembered all of the names of the task and SPK force members.

"What was this about?" Mikami asked with a smirk. "Did something happen to Kira?"

"It's none of your concern any longer."

Mikami just laughed as he listened to the footsteps of the man leaving. Maybe he would be blessed with something interesting before he was sent to the chopping block. He just wished he could have seen the man's face and been able to tell him his death day. That was becoming such fun.

-----

Matsuda scowled as he started on his walk home, still clutching his box of donuts. By the time Near had finished fully questioning and interrogating him, it was way after closing time for the office and getting to be dark outside. Aizawa was going to be so angry with him; at least the young officer had a good excuse. He'd just call the other man when he got home and explain.

"I wonder if these are still any good." Matsuda mumbled to himself as he stared at the glazed and iced donuts. Shrugging and throwing caution to the wind, Matsuda popped the box open to grab a cinnamon iced one from a corner. He popped the side of it into his mouth and took a bite. It was delicious.

The young officer munched on the treat happily, momentarily forgetting his earlier anger with Near. Though once the donut was done and he was licking the last bit of icing off his thumb, he drifted back to the white haired detective. Matsuda didn't trust him one bit. There was definitely something fishy about this whole situation. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew something was wrong with that detective and his methods.

Or maybe Matsuda still felt guilty and miserable about losing control and shooting Chief Yagami's son.

Matsuda didn't have long to wallow in guilt. While lost in his own mind, he forgot to look in front of him and watch where he was going. Which inevitably caused him to slam full body into a person walking in the opposite direction. He fell back and hit his bum on the sidewalk and dropped his box of donuts all over the street. Looking down, he saw a few apples littered among his donuts. The person he hit must have dropped them.

Matsuda moaned slightly and held his head though, before looking up from his place on the sidewalk to apologize to whoever he had run into, but nearly choked on his tongue when he saw who it was. He'd recognize that face anywhere. "Light?"

"Shit."


	4. Complicating Matters

I hope to make up for the travesty that is this chapter in the next update. I've been staring at this for almost a week and it's not getting any better, but it did move the plot in the direction it needed to go. Though, I do like the first part – I love Matsuda. XD

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Complicating Matters**

This was not happening.

Light was caught in a staring match with _Matsuda_ of all people. The man who shot him. Clueless happy Matsuda who fed apples to Ryuk when he was hanging around the task force. Worshiped Light's father when he was alive. The dumbest man on the force. Wait, Matsuda was the dumbest man on the force. Light took a deep breath and calmed himself; it shouldn't be too hard to fool the man into thinking what he wanted. "Are you alright?"

"Oh God!" Matsuda scrambled up from the ground to his feet and pointed his finger at the chest of Light Yagami. The should-be-dead Light Yagami that Near accused him of stealing earlier in the day. Alive, breathing, and looking pleasantly clueless and happy. It was an odd expression for the man, but there was no mistaking those honey-brown eyes. "You're Light!"

"There must be some mistake." Light tried to laugh and looked over his shoulder. Ryuk was missing for some reason. Light blinked again and was instantly grateful. Matsuda should still be able to see Ryuk since he touched the Death Note. The shinigami must have known that and split to help Light keep his cover. At least he was being helpful for once. Now all Light had to deal with was the idiot gaping at him. "I don't believe we've met."

"No." Matsuda shook his head. There was no mistake. He'd bet his life on it. With renewed vigor, he held his ground continued to voice what he knew to be true. "You're Light Yagami!"

Said brunette was starting to get irritated. Matsuda had that look in his eye that revealed his dog-like stubborn side. That and all this yelling was starting to draw unwanted attention. Light went for a false name to throw the man. "I'm sorry, you're mistaken. My name is Hiroki Tanaka."

"No, you're Light. There's no point in trying to fool me." Matsuda nodded his head. Everything was clicking into place and he suddenly understood what had happened to Light's body at the morgue. It was so obvious! "And I know why you're too embarrassed to say so and it's okay."

Light stared and raised and eyebrow at Matsuda. The man had his hands griped in fists and his eyes spoke volumes of knowledge. He looked like he'd figured everything out and Light could feel himself getting more nervous by the second. There was no humanly possible way he knew about that Death Eraser. "You know what?"

"You're a zombie."

-----

"L." Aizawa replied to the monitor that flashed the stylish letter L. The cop still wasn't sure why he insisted they call him 'L' when they all knew he was 'Near,' but there wasn't much he could do about it. Either way, Aizawa did not appreciate getting a call at six in the morning requesting a meeting with the Kira task force members to be held at seven. Especially when the detective said it was Kira related. The Yagami boy was dead and Mikami was in prison. What more was life going to throw at them? "To what do we owe the pleasure? You said it was Kira related, correct?"

"This is Kira related, but you will be informed of that when the time is right. At the moment I just need you to answer my question." Near's garbled voice exited out of the speaker system. From his monitor, he could see Aizawa, Ide, and Mogi all sitting behind the monitor. No Matsuda, but that was to be expected. The man had been missing since he was released from SPK headquarters yesterday night. "We have a different concern at the moment. There may be a situation involving Touta Matsuda."

Aizawa's eyes widened and he could hear Ide and Mogi shifting behind him. He couldn't have heard that correclty. "What happened to Matsuda?"

"Have you had any contact with him lately?"

"Uh, no." Aizawa was slightly taken aback by the question. Was Near watching them or something? "He was supposed to be at the office yesterday but he never showed. He's not answering at his house either."

"As I suspected." Near tipped over a lego from his side of the monitor. The percent that Matsuda was the culprit rose slightly to fifteen percent. "Thank-you for your time." He turned off the monitor in the middle of Aizawa's calls to hold on for a minute and turned to Gevanni and Linder. "Matsuda is definitely involved in this case."

-----

Light Yagami held his head in his hands and moaned as he banged his forehead on the cheap hotel desk. The light on the stand fell over from the continued pounding. "For the last time, Matsuda. I am not a zombie."

"But you were dead!" Matsuda slammed a hand on his knee. A zombie was the only explanation for why Light Yagami was sitting before him and moving about. People just don't raise from the dead unless there's some sort of catch. "I saw the body myself! And you've got those wounds on your chest where I shot you, and you're alive now! You rose from the dead! So that makes you a zombie!"

"I'm not a zombie! I have a freaking heart beat and I'm breathing!" Light slammed his hands on the desk. Eight hours. They'd been at this for over eight hours. It took about an hour to calm Matsuda down because after ten minutes of his first 'zombie' declaration the man had let it sink in and freaked. After that long 'chill!' session in the alley, Light had conned him into going somewhere with him so that they could talk. Ryuk had laughed the entire time like a maniac. Matsuda then finally noticed Ryuk and started a whole new freak out session because now he had no way to deny that he was in fact Light Yagami. Finally, Light had gotten the man into a hotel for privacy (he chose to ignore the strange looks from the hostess) and spent the last six hours getting stuck on this 'zombie' conversation.

"Give it up, Light." Ryuk laughed as he munched an apple. The shinigami had to create a rescue plan for the poor apples on the sidewalk after Light spilled them. It took forever to convince Light to actually go back and get them so passerby's didn't think they were floating. "Just let him think what he wants."

Light glared. "Then the past hours of argument were for nothing and a total waste of my time." Light looked at Matsuda again. Granted, unless he told the other man about the Death Eraser that he wouldn't believe anything else. People didn't come back from the dead unless a supernatural stationary product was involved. And that Eraser was something Light was keeping to himself, so the young man swallowed his pride. "And so they were just a waste. Fine, you win. I'm a zombie."

"I knew it!" Matsuda puffed up. He just _knew_ that's what had to be it. "And that explains why it looks like you walked away! You did!"

Light looked up and lifted an eyebrow. Had he heard that correctly? "What looks like I walked away?"

"Oh, darn." Matsuda grimaced and started to sink into the bed that he was sitting on. Despite everything that happened a few days ago, Matsuda was so happy that Light was back he had practically forgotten the man was Kira. And that meant he'd probably go after Near. Matsuda shifted his eyes to the door. "I don't think I was supposed to say that."

-----

"Damn him!" Aizawa smacked his fist into Matsuda's bedroom door frame. After that call with Near he became very worried and all of the force rushed over to the dumber man's apartment. No one answered the door, so they bust it down. Well, Mogi bust it down, but that wasn't the point. Matsuda wasn't home. Aizawa shoved his face into the crook of his arm. "At least there's no sign of blood or a body."

Ide nodded in agreement to Aizawa's mumblings. After Near's cryptic statement, they had all assumed the worst. "I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is."

"But where is he?" Aizawa crossed his arm and turned back to look at the other two. Both Mogi and Ide had rushed over with him the moment their talk with Near was over. "Near knows something. Do we still have a way to call him? Or did they block our line?"

"I think we can still contact him in the form of a message. There's no proof that he'll reply, however." Ide nodded. "I'm sure we'll find him."

"Yeah, we probably just have bad timing and keep missing him." Aizawa sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Come on, let's leave a note and fix his door. If we don't hear from him in the next few days we'll file him missing."

"And in the meantime leave a message with Near asking for more information?" Ide asked. Aizawa nodded at him and they headed out the door. "Oh, who's turn is it to go check on Misa tomorrow?"

Mogi raised his hand and smiled. "She's doing much better."

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too." Ide smiled. The young blonde was even smiling once in a while. Mogi was putting a plan together to let Misa go visit the remainder of the Yagami family to give her respects properly and connect with the family of the man she loved. Hopefully they could help each other heal. If Ide remembered correctly, Sayu and Sachiko were still taking Light's death very badly, especially since it came so close to the death of Souichiro. "I hope it stays that way."

"Alright, that's enough about the Amane girl." Aizawa shook his head. Sometimes he swore that everyone forgot she was the second Kira. It's like no one cared at all. "Let's just get out of here and fix Matsuda's door."

-----

Mikami was reaching the end of his rope. If they were going to execute him they needed to just go ahead and get it over with. Sitting in a cell with his eyes covered having nothing to do but sit and have the occasional bit of food shoved down his mouth was getting old. Though, he had past boredom quite some time ago and now he was just getting frustrated and angry. He wondered if there was any way to shake things up or at least speed things along.

There was the possibility of striking back and starting to get hostile could be fun. But then they'd just strengthen his bonds and leave him completely immobile. That would be even worse. Mikami huffed and curled into himself. Couldn't they just kill him and get it over with? What was the point of living if he had to sit here doing nothing. Even normal prisoners were allowed to move.

And with his God gone, Mikami was starting to think there wasn't much of a purpose in living any longer.

-----

Matsuda had caved and told Light everything for some reason beyond him after a bit of persuasion. He think it had something to do with the shinigami Ryuk leaning over his shoulder. Yes, Matsuda was sure it had to do with the shinigami over his shoulder munching on apples and having not so subtly mentioning that Matsuda getting in the way was a good reason for a heart attack. "So now what?"

Light looked over at the idiot again and considered his options. He knew that eventually he'd have to deal with the fact his body went missing, but couldn't have imagined Near would think Matsuda stole it. That was absurd. Besides, now he had to figure out what to do with Matsuda. "Ryuk."

"Nope."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!" Light huffed at the smug shinigami.

"You were going to ask if I'd kill Matsuda." Ryuk laughed as Matsuda visibly gulped and his eyes widened. "I think he's fun and interesting. So unless he does something stupid like rat you out I'm going to leave him alone."

"That's ridiculous! He's Matsuda! Of course he's going to tell."

"It's still more interesting than just you by yourself."

"I know you like to be entertained, but you don't want me to get caught any more than I do." Light waved his hand. "He's a liability."

"I dunno.' I always thought he was pretty amusing out of that whole task force bunch."

"For the love of-"

"Hey!" Matsuda shouted to interrupt the two bickering back and forth. He stood up from the bed and clenched his fists. "I won't tell anybody."

"Why?" Light lifted an eyebrow. "I'm Kira. You killed me. Why on earth would you _not_ turn me in?"

Matsuda looked down and started to bite his lip. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Light knew that his face looked incredulous. The shock he was feeling had to be visible. "What are you talking about?"

"For shooting you. I was out of line and I regret it." Matsuda knew this was probably the wrong time to say it. But Light was sitting there in front of him and Matsuda couldn't bring himself to care that he was a vicious serial killer. All Matsuda saw was probably the only person on the task force that never openly called him an idiot. He was sure Light thought Matsuda was dumb, but he treated him the same regardless. That meant a lot to him. "I was just so upset at the thought you'd betrayed all of us and I lost control."

"So you're sorry you shot me?"

"Yes." Matsuda almost laughed and he could feel his eyes watering. "You know, Near asked me if I regretted shooting you. I said I wasn't sure, because I know I didn't want to die either, but. Looking at you now, I know I regret it."

"I see." Light wasn't sure what to make of this. On the one hand, he was confused and on the other he was seething. If Matsuda felt that way why didn't he shoot everyone else and side with him in the warehouse! "So now what?"

"I don't trust Near."

Well, that was abrupt. Light almost had to blink. Maybe all this sleep depravation was getting to the both of them. Matsuda just said something that made sense. "Can I ask why?"

"I just don't. I think he used the Death Note to set you up."

Light stopped. That was news to him and the little gears in his brain started working on overtime. He paid even more attention when Ryuk started laughing in the background. That bastard shinigami knew more about this than he was letting on. "Could you repeat that?"

"It makes sense right?" Matsuda started. "I've been thinking about it for a long time and I think I figured it out. That stuff in the warehouse doesn't make any sense. I know I'm not a genius, but you are – and that Mikami guy is pretty smart, too." Matsuda paused to take a breath and noticed Light was actually listening to him. "So, there's no reason the two of you could have messed up so badly! I think Near wrote Mikami's name down in the Death Note so he'd mess up on purpose."

Light's eyes widened and he could hear Ryuk laughing even louder in the background. "Matsuda, you're a genius."

"I am?"

"Way to go kiddo.'" Ryuk laughed and pat the kid on the back. It was about time someone figured that out. Sometimes it took a dim bulb to shed light on the things the forty watt missed.


	5. New Allies

It shouldn't be as hard as it is to get these chapters out. Ah well, I still love Matsuda and no worries, Mikami's coming back soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**New Allies**

"I can't believe I didn't consider that!"

Matsuda bit thoughtfully into an apple as Light ranted and raved around the room. Ryuk was sitting behind him and chuckling as they watched the young man talk to himself. Matsuda watched as the younger man paced across the room, occasionally stopping to wave his arms as he talked to himself before pacing again. Light had been at it for close to fifteen minutes now and had successfully blocked out everyone else in the room. Matsuda slowly looked up at Ryuk after swallowing his bite of apple. "Does he do that a lot?"

"Only when he's pissed off."

"Oh. I see then."

"I knew something was wrong!" Light huffed and held his hand to his face; fingers digging into his temples. It hurt, but Light didn't notice through his seething rage. "I planned for him switching the notebook pages because I _knew_ he would figure out Mikami." He started to pace again and came close to knocking a lamp over. "But I never thought he'd use the pages he took! Hell, even L didn't actually stoop to using the Death Note! This is even more proof that little rat wasn't even fit to share the same air as L..."

"How long do these sessions usually last?" Matsuda licked a bit of apple juice as it started to run down his hand. Light's stamina was impressive, but then again he was a younger man. "He's already been at it for almost an hour."

Ryuk was watching the apple juice intently as it ran down the human's wrist, but he was more amazed at how calm the human was. He seemed barely phased at being in the same room as a shinigami and a mass murderer. But then again, he also was eating apples in front of said shinigami that was famous for obsessing over the treats. Matsuda did it back when Ryuk hung around the task force headquarters so he shouldn't be surprised that he was doing it now. But still. "Depends, really."

"Ah, because I should probably go home sometime soon." Matsuda fell back on his bed and rubbed his hand on the sheets. "Come to think of it, I said I was going to see the guys at the station yesterday but never got to because of Near. Wonder if they're mad."

Light suddenly gripped his fists together and slammed them on the top of the hotel desk. The sound rattled throughout the room. "Going to kill him! That little white haired freak of nature..."

Matsuda rolled over onto his side and almost laughed; it completely distracted him from his own thoughts. The officer reached over to grab another apple from the bowl but Ryuk snatched it up before he could get at it. Matsuda shrugged and grabbed another before going back to staring at Light. It was kinda fun seeing Light lose his calm, perfect school-boy facade. Those brown eyes lit up and there was an energy there that was inspiring. Matsuda was starting to see just how Light got as far as he did as Kira; and why L was captivated by him, too. "But what are you going to do now, Light? You're still listed as dead in all the records."

"I'm going to...what? Of yes, of course." Light looked back at Matsuda who had one of those damn apples shoved in his face. It was bad enough having one apple glutton hanging around. "I'll get to that when I get to it. Right now I need to deal with Mikami."

"Mikami?"

"Yeah, he's going to be executed and then the ownership of the Death Note will be up for grabs. I need to get it before he kicks the bucket."

"But, Mikami hasn't even had a trial yet. If he was written down in the Death Note, he's going to die way before he's executed." Matsuda pointed out and watched Light frown. "I mean, you'd have to get the note before he dies, right?"

The ex-killer looked between the two idiots sharing a room with him and sat down in his chair again. Matsuda had a point; again. That was surely a sign the world was going to end, but Light would dwell on those odds later. "It still doesn't change the fact I need that book."

"But Near's got it."

"I know that!"

"Sorry." Matsuda flinched. He looked at the clock again and winced a second time. It was almost ten o'clock. Not only did he miss meeting the others he was also late for work. "Well, I'm sure you'll think of something, but I really need to leave."

"Fine, whatever." Light shook his head and sighed. The sooner he left the sooner Light could think clearly. The younger man rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. He was too young to have to deal with this shit. "I'm tired."

"Oh!" Matsuda stopped in mid-walk to the door. He patted his pockets for his pen and walked over to the desk next to Light. The officer pulled over the complimentary stationary pad and quickly scrawled down his phone number. "In case you want to call me, or something."

Light took the piece of paper and looked at the number. He memorized it immediately, but made a show of folding it neatly. "Thanks."

"No problem." Matsuda smiled as Light folded the piece of paper and put it in his pants pocket. Matsuda smiled; he had half expected Light to throw the number away. "See-you later."

Light waved as Matsuda left and leant his hand on his chin before looking at the bed. He smiled and stood up from the desk and trotted over to the slightly ruffled covers from where Matsuda had been sitting. Light unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the other side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Ryuk asked.

"Sleeping." Light yawned and collapsed on the bed. "I'll figure everything out after I've slept."

Ryuk chuckled and closed the curtains over the windows. Light was going to need all the rest he could get.

* * *

Near watched Mikami on the monitor and curled his hair around a long finger. The man was starting to show signs of cabin fever and had reduced himself to yelling at any sound he heard for attention and mental stimulation. Soon he'd regress down to desperation and put his mind to use to create the weapon needed to kill himself. It was a logical progression; which is why Near wrote it out on those deceptively innocent looking lined pages.

In a few days time, Mikami would be dead and all ties that notebook had to this world would be through. At that time, either the shinigami would come reclaim it or Near would burn it. Either way the wretched thing would be gone from this world once and for all. That was at least one thing he didn't have to worry about. The disappearance of Light's body on the other hand, was still plaguing the young man.

It's not that the case was particularly important on the grand scale of things, but it was almost a personal attack on Near and his abilities. Near only believed this because the only people who knew Light was Kira were directly involved with Near at some point in time. So it was either a member of the task force, or his own SPK unit. Neither was acceptable and near would find that damn body and burn it himself to keep it from happening again.

"Sir," Linder called while brushing some hair behind her ear. Near had been sulking for days since the lack of information coming in concerning newest Kira case. It was times like this that Linder was reminded just how young Near really was. "These cases just came in for you."

Near watched thoughtfully as the papers were set on the floor next to him. He'd deal with those cases soon enough and with little problem. They were hardly anything to be concerned about after the Kira case. Speaking. "And the Yagami case?"

"No new information has been gathered." Linder paused and hummed thoughtfully. "But we have located Matsuda again. He's back at home and will be reporting back to work within the week."

"Very good." Near smiled. This way he could keep an eye on the entire task force. Matsuda couldn't have pulled off that case alone. "Keep me informed."

* * *

"Are you alright, Ide? You don't look so good." Misa asked as she started to pour him a cup of tea. The man was sulking and clearly under the weather but he came to visit anyway since Mogi had to leave early. So, Ide either really enjoyed his visits or felt obligated to make sure Misa hadn't killed herself. Misa wasn't sure to be upset or flattered by that revelation. "I'm fine if you want to go home. Really."

"I'm alright, we're just worried about Matsuda."

"Have you still not found him?"

"Not that I've heard of, oh." Ide stopped when his cell phone started ringing. Misa nodded the okay for him to answer. "Hello? Oh, Aizawa. You found him? Where?"

Misa smiled as Ide instantly looked more relaxed and a smile spread on his face. If she remembered correctly, Ide and Matsuda were rather close. "It seems everyone will want to see him. They can come here if they want."

"Misa says everyone can meet at her place to ask him about where he's been." Ide spoke into the phone and smiled at Misa. It was nice that she was trying to be more involved. "Okay, see you in an hour."

"They're coming then?"

"Yeah, Aizawa's dragging Matsuda here and he called Mogi." Ide smiled. "Thank-you, Misa."

"No problem." Misa smiled and headed to her kitchen. If they were having company she should be fully prepared to serve them tea and cakes. That was how a good wife stayed prepared. Misa bit her lip. She never did get to be a wife officially, but as far as Misa was concerned she was Light's one and only. Fiance was close enough and Light's fiance was no slob or bad hostess! "Do you like chocolate cake or vanilla, Ide?"

"Vanilla would be nice." Ide laughed and watched as Misa put on an apron and hovered about the kitchen.

About two hours later, Matsuda arrived and the entire group was sitting nicely in Misa's living room with refreshments and tea. It had started out as awkward silence before Matsuda was bombarded with questions of his whereabouts that ranged from worried insights to his well-being to shouting condemning him for worrying them all. Matsuda was happier answering Ide's questions and not so happy answering Aizawa's. Eventually, he did get to explain his side of the story and Matsuda now sat waiting for the others to respond. Matsuda tried desperately not too look as nervous as he felt.

"Now let me see if I got this straight." Aizawa spoke very slowly as he stared at Matsuda sitting in Misa's kitchen. His head was down and his fingers were crossed; over all he looked guilty and embarrassed. "L grabbed you off the street and then took you in for questioning for almost an entire day. He accused you of being a Kira supporter and for stealing Light Yagami's body that is missing from the morgue where Light's footprints are walking in a trail out of the room. And by the end of the interrogation, he said you were still suspect but let you leave. And instead of going straight home, you stopped for donuts and got lost and stayed the night at a hotel."

"That's about it." Matsuda gulped and hoped his story was believable. There was no way he was telling them he ran into Zombie Light and Ryuk. Not only would they not believe him, but then Light would be in trouble! "Sorry for worrying you."

"No, no." Aizawa sighed and smiled. "I'm just glad you're okay. When L called us asking about you, we all got really worried."

"And Misa was worried too!" The blonde nodded from her spot on the couch. "Ide and Mogi were totally depressed for the week you were trapped in your apartment. This disappearing thing only made it worse!"

"I won't do it again." Matsuda smiled. He wondered if he should tell Misa about Light. She always supported him faithfully. "In fact, I think I'm up for coming back to work tomorrow."

"How about the day after?" Aizawa slapped Matsuda on the back of the shoulder. "Go home and take a break."

"Alright." Matsuda nodded and stood up. "I'll do that."

"Still, I can't believe they stole Light's body." Ide mumbled. "What poor taste."

Aizawa nodded. "I agree."

"Well, at least that's all that happened. It's not like he's up and walking around, right?" Ide chuckled and punched Matsuda in the side.

Matsuda laughed a bit forcefully when he first started to choke. "Yeah, I know, right? That would be ridiculous!"

"Are you okay?" Ide asked and rose an eyebrow.

"I'm great. I'm just fine. Oh! Misa made cakes and I haven't tried on yet." Matsuda grabbed a cake and shoved it in his mouth. "These are so great, Misa-Misa!"

"Misa's glad you like them!"

Aizawa paused and stared at Matsuda's sudden change of topic. The man looked positively nervous. The older detective reached a hand to his chin as he tried to figure out the change. It occurred right after Light's kidnapping was brought up. Matsuda couldn't have possibly been involved...could he? Aizawa almost hit his head against a wall. He prayed for Matsuda's sake that he really had nothing to do with it.

* * *

"There is no way I can get this stupid book!" Light growled and slammed his forehead into the desk. He had been racking his brain for some way to get the Death Note back but had failed miserably. Matsuda's stupidity must have rubbed off on him! "To get the book I need to find it, but Near has it and I don't even know where Near is. Other than the fact he's in Japan considering Matsuda just saw him."

"You could always ask Matsuda to get it..." Ryuk trailed off and scratched his chin with a long nail.

Light rolled his eyes. "I doubt he'd do that and besides, Near already suspects him of stealing my body. He'll be watching the idiot."

"At the very least he could tell you where it is."

"Possibly." Light sighed and sat down in his chair and stretched his legs out in front lazily. "I guess I'll give him a call tomorrow and ask. It's not like I have any other plans at the moment."

"Odd for you."

"I'm having an off week." Light snorted. "I'm allowed one or two."

Ryuk laughed. "I thought your nap was supposed to help you get your head back into order."

"Well it didn't work." The brunette threw his arms up in the air and continued with his room pacing. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas."

"You could always get in contact with Misa. She's usually willing to help."

Light shivered. While Misa was willing to do just about anything he asked, she was, well. Not very subtle. Her obsessive loyalty did not make up for her lack of tact. "Maybe as a last resort."

"You could always sneak in yourself and get it." Ryuk laughed. "You are supposed to be dead. It's not like anyone will be looking too closely at your face. I mean, Matsuda recognized you- but he's also watched you grow up and shot you."

"So the chances of a guard recognizing me would be slim." Light smiled slowly. "This, this could work, Ryuk."

"What will?"

"I'll get Matsuda to locate the book and then I'll infiltrate the base in a disguise. I'm sure Matsuda can help me with forging ID badges and the like." The ex-Death Note owner laughed out loud and clapped his hands together. "This can work. I'm sure it can."

"Glad to see you finally have some gears turning in your head."

"Of course," Light smirked. "I'm Kira."


	6. Matsuda

Hurrah. Knocked another chapter back and out of the way. I'm still loving Matsuda; he doesn't get nearly enough love. And I know Light and Ryuk have been on the backburner for a while, but don't worry- they're coming back. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing everyone!

**Matsuda**

It was weird being back at work after taking so many days off and working on the Kira case for such a long time. Matsuda hummed to himself at his desk and stared at the standard paperwork that he used to process. Matsuda was more or less ignored by his fellow officers as they had their own work to do as well, and Ide had gone out with Aizawa and Mogi to check on something or other. Matsuda was back to normal police work- thefts, jaywalking, murder, whatever happened to fall on his plate for the day really. He sighed to himself and started reading the next case file on a robbery on a convenience store. No one in the office wanted Matsuda to over exert himself since it was his first day back.

Matsuda was starting to get annoyed with all the careful handling. He wasn't that fragile and the kid gloves needed to come off. Even Ide had been giving him pitying looks after his original good cheer from finding his friend had worn down. Matsuda sighed and flipped a page. Okay, so it was true after he shot Light that Matsuda had gone into sort of a break down and locked himself in his apartment. And maybe he had been moped around and his friends had caught him crying over those two days than he cared to admit. But he was fine now! Really! Matsuda had nothing to worry about anymore and was totally ready to get back to work.

Because he was sure that Light had forgiven him.

Or at least Matsuda had assumed he did from their encounter the other day. Why else would the other man had kept his number? Or spent so much time with him despite the bullet wounds still marring his body? Scars Matsuda himself had put there and yet Light still talked to him; that had to be forgiveness. Well, Matsuda reasoned, it could also be because Light was a zombie and had no where else to go- but Matsuda tried not to linger on that fact. Though, he was curious to how the whole zombie thing happened in the first place. Were zombies spontaneous? No, Matsuda figured Ryuk probably had something to do with it.

The shinigami seemed fond of Light, not that Matsuda blamed him. It was really hard to dislike Light. Light was a kind, righteous person that shared his father's passion and his sister's social appeal. Light was also a psychopathic, homicidal murderer with a god complex. But Misa liked him even though he treated her horribly (well, she was in love), Ryuk liked him (then again he was a _death_ god), Mikami had liked him (well, the image of him Mikami had created)…so, then why did Matsuda still like him when he knew better? Matsuda had seen him at his worst and-

No, Matsuda liked what Light used to be, not what he became as Kira. The bright, straight A, kind student and son of Souichirou Yagami. Though, Kira's ideals were in the right direction. No, Light had lost himself and became a criminal himself for those ideals. But Matsuda appreciated all the work and effort Kira had put into his plans. But Light had gone too far and killed officers as well. Matsuda had shot Kira to save himself and his friends; he didn't care what Near said: Matsuda was _not_ a Kira supporter.

Matsuda smacked his forehead into the table. Who was he kidding? Matsuda had basically offered to help Kira get back onto his feet and get his Death Note back. Matsuda had agreed to help Kira and he was almost over eager to do so. The detective's hands found themselves tangled in his own hair as he covered his head. Matsuda had even made sure Light had somewhere to sleep over the next few days. Near was right. Matsuda was a hopeless Kira supporter.

* * *

Light had woken up early that morning to raid the free continental breakfast, though not by his choice. Ryuk had flung him out of bed by the blankets and demand Light fetch him an apple before they put the food away. Light suddenly wanted to know if there was anyone Ryuk loved so he could kill them. Dying a second time would be worth it if he could take that damn shinigami down with him.

Needless to say, Light was in a much better mood after he had been fed and had coffee flowing through his system.

The young man had then retreated to his room to go back to a topic more important than Ryuk's apples, no matter how the shinigami argued otherwise: Getting the Death Note back and handling the Mikami and Near problem. Ryuk had sat and watched Light talk to himself and write out plans on napkins (Only to burn them afterwards. Light had claimed 'can't leave evidence' but Ryuk was still holding onto 'Light's a pyro.'). Eventually, Light had come up with something he was halfway happy about. Ryuk just hoped it would be fun to watch.

"Okay, so I get Matsuda to confront Near about the Death Note and force him to show it to Matsuda." Light mumbled to himself as he paced the room and recalled his mental plan. "That way, Matsuda can confirm what we suspect Near did to Mikami."

"And then you sneak in and steal the note once you know where it is?"

Light groaned again and started making little red marks on the notes in his brain. "This won't work. Near's never going to show Matsuda where that stupid book is hidden."

"What if Matsuda got everyone to agree that they should know where the notebook is because it's so dangerous?" Ryuk asked and scratched his head with his long fingers; his rings clinked together and made tiny metallic noises. "I mean, even when it was at the NPA headquarters everyone knew where the thing was."

"That's a good point." Light sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "At the very least we should try and have him confirm Mikami's name is in the notebook."

"What got you so fixated on that portion of all of this, anyway?" Ryuk picked up an apple daintily by its stem before taking a bite out of it's soft flesh. "Worried about your timeline?"

"Something like that." Light hummed and stared out the hotel window. He hadn't realized it at the time, but Matsuda had actually paid for the hotel room for a few days. Light was surprised when he went to the front desk to check out and they asked if he wanted to cancel. Obviously Light said no and that he had just forgotten. Matsuda was proving to be more useful than he originally thought, which means he might be able to do something else. "Does the Death Eraser work if you didn't write the name? Or if the page isn't in the notebook?"

"I'd assume so." Ryuk shrugged and noticed that Light was getting an odd twinkle in his eye. Ryuk chuckled darkly; seems Kira was _finally_ starting to get his act back together. It was about damn time. "It just erases names. That's it."

"Ryuk." Light smiled sweetly. "Would it be too much trouble to ask if I could borrow it in the near future?"

"Maybe." Ryuk laughed.

* * *

"Hey, Ide." Matsuda smiled as the other man walked up to the detective's desk with what looked like a bag of take-out food. Ide sat the bag on the desk and Matsuda smiled at the near heavenly scent of fried hamburgers and fries. "Is that for me?"

"Yeah, you want to go eat it outside?" Ide threw a thumb over his shoulder towards the exit. Matsuda had been trapped at his desk all day; time for him to get some fresh air. "It's really nice out."

"Sure." Matsuda pushed up from his seat, earlier papers forgotten in the hopes of lunch (he was hungry!) and some time with his friend. He had some catching up to do with everyone else now that he was out of his slump. Matsuda was having an identity crisis about his morals, loyalties and obligations as a citizen, but at least he wasn't moping anymore. "How's your day been?"

"Pretty good. Mogi and Aizawa are doing some footwork for a new case this morning." Ide mentioned as they got to the door and headed towards the elevators. "What about you?"

"I've been fine. Little weird being back in the office after all the excitement."

"I know what you mean." Ide laughed before lowering his voice. "How are you doing, though? Really?"

"I'm fine, Ide." Matsuda forced a smile and rubbed his arm. Even if he was considering doing what he thought he was, that didn't mean Matsuda wanted to worry those he cared about. In fact, that was probably where his only resistance to helping Light was coming from. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure? I'd be pretty upset if I was accused of stealing a body from a morgue with no evidence to support the fact."

Matsuda shook his head and rubbed at his hair. "It doesn't bother me as much as it did when they picked me up off the street. I didn't do it." _Though, I am technically guilty of aiding a felon…_

"We know." Ide smiled and held up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun when they stepped out of the building. "Let's go sit next to the fountain."

"Okay." Matsuda followed dutifully until he heard his cell start to ring. Matsuda reached into his pocket and saw that the number was coming from the hotel he and Light stayed at. Getting slightly nervous at getting caught talking to Light, Matsuda held up his hand and waved at Ide. "I've gotta' answer this. I'll be there in a minute."

Matsuda waited for Ide to wave back and sit down before he put his back to his friend. "Hello?"

"Matsuda? It's me."

Light's voice came through clear on the phone and Matsuda swallowed. He was actually a little shocked. The detective hadn't really expected Light to call him back at all deep down. "Yes?"

"I need you to do me a favor. Are you listening?"

"Ah." Matsuda was a bit taken aback. Light was asking him to do something? Already? Matsuda wondered if this favor was Kira related, or if it was just Light needing a necessity like food or money. Though, Matsuda knew it didn't matter much. He'd probably do it anyway. "Yes."

"Good, now make sure to make a mental note of all this and don't write it down. I need you to…"

Matsuda listened very carefully as Light listed instruction after instruction. It was a bit overwhelming for the man, but a small bit of pride was shining through as well. Light was trusting him to do something relatively complicated. Matsuda, the idiot. Someone was trusting him to do something important by himself for what seemed like the first time. Matsuda made up his mind that he would get this done right no matter what it took. It was the least he could do.

Ide looked up when Matsuda finally clicked his cell phone shut and came to join him for lunch. He had a determined look on his face and it made Ide curious. "Who was that?"

"An old friend." Matsuda perked up and started to dig into the sandwich that had been left for him. He hadn't forgotten about his earlier hunger in the slightest even with Light calling.

Ide thought that answer was rather vague; he pushed for more information. "What did he want?"

"Just to talk. He's not doing so well and wanted to let off some steam even though we haven't seen each other in ages." Matsuda was proud of that little lie. And Light did have a tendency to rant. "But it's not that important." Matsuda paused. "Ide, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, Matsuda." Ide smiled. "What do you need?"

"I think I'm going to go see Near tomorrow." Matsuda spoke quietly, but made sure it came across that he was serious. However, he was nervous and his voice wavered a bit on his next sentence. "Would you come with me?"

* * *

"Teru Mikami."

"Nate River. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Has the shinigami made contact with you at any point since you were incarcerated?" Near spoke quietly while wrapping his hair around his finger. Normally, he wouldn't bother to see this scum of a man in person, but he there were some things you couldn't see through a video camera. Body movement, shifts of voice, breathing rate- all these signs of truth or lies were best noticed in person. "And may I remind you that you have no reason to lie to me any longer. Do tell the truth."

Mikami snorted and decided to just throw himself to the sharks and get it over with. "Once."

"And what did he do?"

"Nothing. It was when I was first in prison." Mikami let an amused smile fall on his face. He was so pathetic lying here in a straight jacket and blind fold acting as the pawn once again. "He said I was boring and left."

"Did he give you any indication of what he was going to do?"

"No." Mikami rubbed his face into the bench. "What's with all these questions? First Mr. Loud and now this? Can't you just let me be executed in peace or tell me what's going on?"

"In due time." Near cocked his head. A tap on his shoulder caused him to turn and look back at Gevanni. "What is it?"

Gevanni leant down and whispered his message in the child's ear. Inside the man was wondering how the child genius would react to the news he had just told him. Near smirked and replied with a quiet "Is that so?"

"He wants to meet you as soon as possible. Do you want to make him wait?"

"No, I'm done here." Near shook his head and started to pad down the hallway in his sock covered feet; toy action figure hanging from his hand. "It was the dead end I expected it to be."

Mikami snarled. How dare they? The little brat comes to see him and then ignores him in the middle of a conversation for something else? Had Mikami become so pathetic that he could be dropped without a second thought? Mikami was a top class prosecutor. He had been the one chosen by Kira. He had been Kira and spited hundreds upon hundreds with justice. He had the _eyes._ And all he had been reduced to was a wretch in a cell?

Mikami couldn't live like this.

* * *

Misa couldn't live like this.

She had tried, she really had to cheer up for everyone. It was easier when everyone was depressed looking and worrying over Matsuda and over at her house. But now that Misa was alone she could think of it again. Think of _him_ again. Misa didn't want to cry anymore. She didn't want to miss _him_ anymore.

Misa wanted Light back and whole and living in their apartment together. She wanted to flirt and smile and hang on him. She wanted him to yell at her, scoff at her, call her stupid. Misa didn't care how he treated her or what lies she told herself about his affections. She just wanted him back. Misa wanted her engagement to be a marriage. To be Misa Yagami just so that she could hold tight to her Light.

But that wasn't an option.

Light was dead and now even his body was missing.

Misa had wanted to know when the funeral was so that she could prepare. The least she could do was attend and make sure Light received his flowers and the attention he deserved. But the task force wouldn't tell her so Misa had no choice but to take things into her own hands and go see the Yagami family for the information.

But all Light's mother and sister could tell her was that the funeral was postponed and even they weren't sure why. Still not discouraged, Misa went to the morgue. At least she could go see Light in person to show her respects funeral or not. But when she got there, they just told her it wasn't there. Misa had screamed and thrown a fit demanding to see her fiancé. It was a show worthy of a spoiled actress.

Eventually, one poor soul took her aside and told her the truth: the body had been stolen and they were keeping it quiet to avoid a news frenzy. Misa had been furious at the others for not telling her something so important and she stormed home to wait for her 'baby sitter' to give him a piece of her mind. Two plates and a vase had fallen victim to her initial rage.

Though, after waiting a few hours, Misa just fell apart and cried. Her poor Light was being desecrated even as she sat there and she could do nothing for him. When Misa got her hands on whoever did this to her beloved, they were going to wish Kira was still around to kill them.

* * *

"Do you think he'll do it?" Ryuk chuckled as he and Light sat together in the hotel room. Light had just gotten back from a few old lady cons (he was going to have to leave the hotel eventually unless he could also get Matusda to pay for a few more nights) and was now sitting thoughtfully by the window. If Matsuda had actually paid attention to what he had been told, than Light's plan should be going into motion just about now.

Light took a sip of coffee from the mug in his hand as he looked outside and down below at the people scurrying like ants from place to place. "I think that he will."

"Your confidence is inspiring."

"I would hope so."

Ryuk chuckled and tossed an apple at Light when the man put his cup of coffee on the table. Light looked at the apple funny for a moment before shaking his head and taking a healthy bite. "Your ego never ceases to amaze me."

"I thought it was the fact I was a pyro that kept you so interested?"

Ryuk chuckled. "Nah, gotta' be the ego."

"He'll do it." Light mused.

"And how can you be so sure?"

"He hates Near more than he questions Kira." Light smiled. "I'm the lesser of two evils."

"Doesn't seem like something you should be putting all your faith into."

"In any case, we'll know tomorrow." Light took another bite from the apple and shifted his view from the mortals down below to the moon hanging in the sky. The same moon that hung over his head all those years ago when he first met Ryuk. "The moon is lovely, isn't it Ryuk?"

"Yeah, it is."

* * *

The screen flickered on with the familiar gothic "L" and the force turned towards it. Matsuda may have only asked Ide, but Aizawa and Mogi volunteered to come as well as support. It was possible they just wanted to cover him if he did something stupid, but thankfully they had heard him out and were willing to let Matsuda do what he needed to do. Matsuda took the care and concern and turned it into courage as he walked up to the monitor. Matsuda took a deep breath and tapped the screen. "Is this really necessary? I want to speak to you face to face."

"Why?" Near's garbled voice echoed throughout the waiting room. "You're lucky I made room to even talk with you."

"There's no point in a screen when we've already seen your face and know your name. It's not too much to ask for some common courtesy especially after you yanked me off the street. I saw you in person then, why not now?"

Matsuda was being bold, Aizawa noted as he hung back. He'd never seen the younger man look so fierce. Though, Aizawa couldn't blame him. After Matsuda shared his thoughts about the warehouse event with the others, they understood why he was so upset with Near. It was only natural he'd want to confirm it face to face. He was sure that Ide and Mogi agreed, and he knew they were all proud of Matsuda for standing up to Near this way.

"First, why don't you tell me what it is you want? And then I'll see if it'll be worth my time to leave what I'm doing to entertain you." Near tried to make his speech harsher than usual. That extra bit would incite anger into Matsuda. With as suspicious as the man was acting, anger might make him slip up and reveal what it is that he knew. Near was sure that he knew something now that he didn't before.

Matsuda took a deep breath and steeled himself. It was now or never. All or nothing. Traitor or loyal. Matsuda spoke with authority behind his voice. He was going to be taken seriously for once in his life. "I want to see the Death Note."


	7. Definitely a Pyromaniac

For the record, I'm very happy with how this chapter turned out. Go Matsuda!! Though, I'm sad I couldn't fit Misa into this chapter. I really do love that girl; she'll have to get lots of time in the next chapter. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

**Definitely a Pyromaniac**

Mikami pulled himself up onto the bed and sat leaning over on his knees. His breaths were heavy and his body exhausted from the sudden movement after being still for so long. The lawyer's eyes were still bound, as were his hands, but that would not deter him. Mikami had finally made up his mind about his current state of existence.

He would not stand before a court.

It would be the ultimate in humiliation; far worse than being strung up at the gallows or tied like an animal to the slaughter. Put on show like a little toy in his own home ground? Never. And nor would the lawyer continue to live like this in jail for the rest of his natural days. Though, he rather doubted he received the life sentence over death anyway. Regardless, being sentenced to execution and forced to endure the electric chair or a lethal injection was unacceptable. Mikami would see to his own execution. It was simple as that.

Assuming he could figure out how to accomplish this goal with both of his hands restrained and eyes gone it would be anyway. Mikami wished had had paid more attention to the room when he had been able to see. Then at least, he would know what he had to work with; Mikami was truly hoping he could avoid bashing his head into the wall if at all possible. Mikami needed something that was guaranteed to kill him immediately lest he suffer writhing on the floor in agony.

He'd writhed in the warehouse already; Mikami's pride had suffered enough.

Mikami sighed and shifted slightly on the bed. From what he could tell it was made from metal, Mikami moved and listened to the bed creak, old rusted metal. Maybe he could break it somehow and impale himself on one of those metal pieces. Assuming no one came to stop him, of course. Maybe that was too slow.

But what else did he have to work with? The sink? The toilet? Heaven forbid Mikami use one of those when he was unwilling to bash his head into the wall. The lawyer huffed; it shouldn't be this difficult to kill yourself!

Maybe he could bite his tongue off and bleed to death. Mikami slid his tongue between his teeth and bit down before yelping. His bar was smacked and a 'keep it down!' was shouted by that fat idiot of a guard. Mikami sighed; his lack of tolerance for pain was going to be a bother. Not to mention there was always someone two feet from him.

The lawyer dropped his head onto the mattress, hunched over, and let his knees straighten out so he was laying on his stomach. It was possible he could try and attack the guards and hope that they shoot him? Mikami grumbled to himself and huffed into the pillow. Maybe he'd think of something after a nap.

* * *

Near stared at the screen and at the angry pair of eyes staring him down from the other side of the monitor. He smirked at the corner of his lips and pulled at a particularly curly piece of his hair. This Touta Matsuda had brought up a very interesting request. "And why, should I allow that?"

Linder, Gevanni and Rester had stopped what they were doing to stare at their boss and the little monitor he was watching. Had that cop really just asked for what they think he did? Linder frowned; there was no way Near was going to accept this. She looked to the side to see Gevanni twitching slightly as he tried to get back to his work; the man hadn't been quite the same since his visit with the psychopath. Rester was the fastest to go back to work. Linder, made no action to deny she was eavesdropping when Matsuda started to speak.

"I've been thinking about it," Matsuda paused and took a breath. Ide, Aizawa and Mogi were all behind him waiting. Somewhere Light too was depending on Matsuda to get this right. "And I don't like having something as dangerous as the Death Note in the hands of just one person."

"I assure you, it is locked up in a safe and in the hands of no person." Near replied and tilted his head.

Matsuda gripped his fist. "But you can access it at any time, can't you?"

"If need be."

"Not to be rude, but I don't trust you with it." Matsuda said it. He really said it: the same thought he'd been thinking since that even in the warehouse. "And not only that, but I want to confirm something for myself."

"That's what this whole thing is about, isn't it? It's not about your concern for others but to clarify your suspicions." Near paused in stacking a familiar block onto a stack and looked at the screen again. He finally noticed the accusation hiding behind the anger in the eyes of one Touta Matsuda. Interesting. "And what would that be that you need to see the Death Note in person so badly?"

"I want to check for a name." Matsuda swallowed thickly. "And I'm pretty sure I don't have to say whose."

"I don't see why you should have that right." Near set the block down. Matsuda was fishing for a distraction it seemed and the likely hood of him having the body was continuing to rise. "Or why I should trust _you_ with the book."

"I." Matsuda looked down. How to answer to that? He'd already come straight out and accused Near of using the Death Note. What other ammo did he have?

"I want to see it, too."

"Aizawa." Matsuda mumbled as he turned around. Aizawa gave him a small smile before turning to the monitor.

"Don't we at least have the right to know what went on in that warehouse? If it is true that we were saved by that abomination of nature?" The older detective continued. "Matsuda has a valid point and I think you should respect his right to know."

Near shook his head. He had already decided on a plan that would not only satisfy their curiosity, but give him another angle to work with. The missing body of Light Yagami was still a pain in his side. "I think this is, unwise."

"You can bring all the guards you want." Aizawa continued, and didn't notice the way Matsuda flinched. "We'll confirm what we want to know and leave you alone. It's not like we're asking for private time with the damn thing."

Matsuda nodded slowly. This wasn't quite what he had in mind when Light was telling him what to do. Matsuda might have to do a little thinking on his feet, especially if this was his only chance. "And the sooner the better, so we know you didn't rip out the page or anything."

"I could have easily already done so." Near shrugged, knowing they couldn't see him anyway.

"But you didn't."

"And how do you know that?"

Matsuda smiled. "Call it a gut instinct."

Near chuckled from his end of the connection. A gut instinct, huh? Well maybe those could be right sometimes, too. How amusing. "Fine. I'll let you see it tomorrow and I'll give you the address."

"Really?" Matsuda shouted excitedly. The young detective hadn't expected this to work! "Thank-you!"

The screen flicked off and Ide stared at his excited friend. Not that Ide wasn't excited for Matsuda- he was proud his friend had stood up for himself and to Near of all people. But, he was starting to get a bad feeling in his gut. Which was the same feeling that Aizawa was sharing at the moment. Something was off and it was either with Matsuda or Near. Either way, both thought the same thing: _That was too easy._

* * *

"He did it." Light spoke as he snapped his cell phone shut in the hotel room. Ryuk was hover behind him trying to listen in on the phone conversation, but with his curious look it was clear he was waiting for Light to fill in the blanks. Matsuda had done most of the talking. "He actually did it."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Ryuk chuckled. "Aren't you the one who was so sure he'd pull it off?"

Light shook his head. "No, I knew he'd do what I told him." Light paused and almost laughed. This was just to perfect to be true. Near was falling straight into his trap and he didn't even realize it. _This is too easy._ "But I didn't know he'd actually succeed. This is too perfect."

Ryuk paused and scratched his head. "Okay, so now what?"

"Matsuda told me the time and place where Near's going to show them the Death Note." Light started to walk towards the door of the small hotel room. He was suddenly in the mood to treat Ryuk to some apples. "Which mean's it's our turn, Ryuk."

"Our turn?"

"Yes, Matsuda's going to be watched very closely while he's in there and I doubt they let him keep his cell phone on him while they show off the note. So contacting me when he actually sees it is out of the question. However, we can put things in his favor by merely being there."

"We're going to go see, Near?"

"Yes and No." Light hummed and checked his pockets for money. After fingering the few dollars in his pocket, Light decided he didn't have nearly enough money for what he was planning. "Ryuk, I need you to steal a credit card."

"Why?" Ryuk muttered.

"Because I can buy you tons more apples at once."

Ryuk laughed as Light waved to the hotel clerk in the lobby and sent a lovely smile her way. The woman swooned as per usual and Ryuk snickered. "You always say that. Your charm doesn't work on me, you know."

"I'm well aware, Ryuk." Light smiled brightly over his shoulder and grinned when Ryuk looked away, almost bashfully. His charms didn't work; Ha! Light's charms worked on everyone- even shinigami (Save for Rem, but Light was pretty sure she was crushing on Misa…). "It's why I enjoy our conversations so. Now go do it."

"Yeah, yeah." Ryuk huffed and started to fly ahead of Light looking for a sap who looked loaded. He could see the gears turning in Light's brain already and it was times like this where Ryuk wished he had paid attention to those napkins when Light was planning all of this out.

* * *

"Don't worry, Matsuda." Aizawa smiled and pat the younger man on the back. Matsuda had been looking nervous since they had arrived at the given address. It seems the poor guy had used up all his nerve just to call the meeting in the first place. "Everything'll be fine. You can flip through the book and confirm what you need and then we'll see where it goes from there."

Matsuda nodded and took a breath. On the one hand, he felt guilty for involving everyone like this when he was really helping out Kira. But on the other, he was infinitely grateful for the support they were showing him by just being there. Matsuda was so nervous his hands were sweating. Light had explained the plan over the phone, but Matsuda was starting to lose his confidence. What if he messed up? Or missed his cues? He'd be caught and then he'd lose everything: his freedom, his friends, and any self-respect he had lingering about.

The timing of everything had to be just right or this would fail. The young officer took a breath to steady himself. He was thinking far too negatively-Matsuda almost tripped over himself when he caught the sight of a black wing off to the side. He turned his head but didn't see anything there. Matsuda could have sworn he just saw Ryuk.

"Are you alright?" Aizawa asked when he received no response.

Matsuda jumped and turned back to his friend. How could he fail when his friends were supporting him? "Yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous."

"Let's get this show on the road, then." _And get this over with._ The older man kept that last thought to himself before pushing Matsuda forward towards the building doors. Near had chosen to have them meet in a work-file storage facility on the edge of town. Nothing but rows and rows of stashed cardboard boxes filled with contracts, documents, paper trails and notebooks. Aizawa could appreciate the irony.

It had taken them about fifteen minutes to wander through the stacks of boxes before they found Near sitting in a corner flanked by the previous members of the SPK and a few others with guns. He had a black leather briefcase sitting on the ground before him. Matsuda assumed the notebook was in the briefcase. He stood before Near and bowed slightly. "Thank-you for accepting my request."

Near reached down to flip open the small briefcase to reveal the dangerous weapon inside. He still wasn't quite sure why he agreed to this, but maybe Matsuda would slip up in some fashion. Or that's what he was hoping for in any case. Near picked the book up by the corner and held it in the air. "After you've looked at it, do you agree to not bring up the topic again?"

"Once I've confirmed what I need to know, I'll be satisfied. Yes." Matsuda agreed. If things went like Light planned, than things should work out fine. Maybe. Matsuda was still fuzzy on the whole ordeal, but Light usually knew what he was doing. "This is for my own state of mind. I want to put this all behind me."

"Agreed, and we have plenty of witnesses to keep things in order." Near set the notebook down on the top of the briefcase. He used his pale, slender fingers to push it towards Matsuda about an inch. "Look to your heart's content."

Matsuda strode forward, knowing that everyone else was leaving him to do this on his own. He had a feeling somehow that the rest of them really didn't want to know the answer to what Matsuda was about to confirm. That was fine. Matsuda knelt down and picked up the notebook; the Death Note. Once again, Matsuda was shocked by it. Despite all the power it held, all the devastation it could cause, the sheer _evil_ that it could deliver: it felt like a regular leather notebook. Matsuda opened the book and stared at the names, one after another and flipped quickly to the last page not wanting to linger on the dead.

_Teru Mikami_

Matsuda's heart stopped beating in his chest and his hands started to shake slightly. That single name stood out on the paper like a beacon; Matsuda had been right. Near sat in front of him curling a piece of his hair with an indifferent look on his face. He knew what Matsuda would find and he did nothing to hide it. The name was still there. The detailed description of his failure and betrayal of Light was there in ink followed by the date of his suicide in prison. Matsuda felt sick to his stomach.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yes." Matsuda's voice cracked and he felt his eyes water. Though not from sorrow, but anger. Matsuda knew that it was irrational. Light had done worse a hundred times over. But the thought of what Near had done to trap Light made Matsuda far angrier than Kira ever could. Matsuda's fingers clenched around the pages of the notebook.

"Well, now. Since I was honest with you." Near smiled and tilted his head. "Why don't you return the favor?"

"What are you talking about?" Aizawa spoke up from a few feet behind the shaking Matsuda. His reaction was enough to tell everyone that Teru Mikami's name was written on those pages. It was a shame that this was the one time Matsuda had been right.

"I want Matsuda to tell me where he hit Light Yagami's body." Near smirked.

Matsuda twitched and Ide almost snarled. That's why Near agreed to this so readily. He wanted to guilt Matsuda into confessing to something he didn't do! "Matsuda didn't steal the body."

"He didn't?" Near smiled. "I think that he's hiding it though."

_In a way…_ Matsuda could almost laugh. He didn't steal Light's body, but he was hiding it away in a hotel. Matsuda looked up at Near defiantly. "I don't have it. Why do you think I have it?"

"Gut instinct." Near smirked. "I'm sure that you-" Near was cut off by a loud noise coming from the left. It was a banging sound, like someone had knocked over a stack of filing boxes. "Gevanni, check it out."

"Sir." Steve left to look with Rester in tow. This was not what they needed to deal with right now.

Matsuda's eyes widened. That was the signal! Matsuda held tight to the notebook and started to count down in his head. One minute after the boxes are knocked over-there! Matsuda jumped back with everyone else when the stack of boxes next to them lit up in a blaze of fire. "Shit!"

The others reacted as planned and Matsuda realized this was his chance. For these few brief moments everyone's eyes were glued to the fire blazing next to them making short work of all those pages. And the crackling of the fire was loud enough that Matsuda had just enough time to rip out the page of the notebook with Mikami's name on it. Using the pen imprints on the next page, Matsuda quickly traced over the writing to hide that he had taken the page. He also made sure not to picture anyone's face or name while he was writing as a back-up in case what Light told him about the rules didn't work. Matsuda then crumpled the original quickly and shoved it in his pocket before anyone could question him. Matsuda ripped out two more pages on a whim before dropping the book.

Near cursed and looked back at Matsuda when he heard the book drop. The fool had let it go in shock and Near reached down to grab it. He may have approved letting those officers see the book to confirm Mikami's death, but there was no way he was going to lose the notebook. The plan was to wait for the past owner to die and then destroy the thing. Near was going to stick to the plan. However, Near was nothing if not paranoid and opened the book quickly to check; nothing seemed out of order and Mikami's name was still on the page. Before he could scrutinize it closer, another blast of fire appeared and he had to drop it for now. The fire was getting too close to them for comfort.

Aizawa watched as the files burned and looked back towards Matsuda on the ground and Near with the Death Note. The smoke was starting to fill his lungs and they needed to get out of here. "Matsuda! Near! Let's go!"

"Right." Matsuda stumbled to his feet and felt a rush of adrenaline from the fire or the theft, he wasn't sure which. Near shut the book into the case and stood up to follow. "What about Mr. Gevanni and Mr. Rester?"

"They'll get out on their own." Near spoke and narrowed his eyes. What were the chances that "Let's move before the fire spreads."

The team headed towards the doors and could hear as the fire crackled and burned through everything. Near couldn't help but wonder why the sprinkler system had failed to go off. It was a building full of dry paper, surely they had better fire protection than this? Once outside, Near looked at the building and started to contemplate what this could possibly mean. Gevanni and Rester came running out of a side door soon after and Near approached them. "Well?"

"An office worker says that the fire was started by a small bomb. She saw it explode just before the fire started." Gevanni coughed to get a bit of the smoke from his lungs and Rester continued for him. "She said she could see various other explosions as the fire spread. This was planted ahead of time."

"The sprinkler system?"

"It was deactivated." Rester frowned. "Someone cut all the wiring for it."

Near narrowed his eyes. "I want to know who did this and why." Near then looked over to the old task force members and gazed at them thoughtfully. Were they involved? He had no evidence to support the fact so he couldn't keep them. But if they were involved, Near would know. "I think that's all for today, gentlemen."

"Yeah, let's go home." Aizawa grumbled and started to walk to the car. It was his day off and he had no desire to be on the scene when his fellow officers showed up. This whole thing to see the Death Note was shady enough on its own. "Let's go, Ide, Matusda."

Matsuda nodded and followed after Ide and Aizawa. The piece of paper in his pocket felt like it was burning a hole through his pants. Near hadn't noticed and was letting them go. Matsuda had done it. It had worked like a charm. Matsuda used every piece of willpower he owned not to jump up and down like a kid who had just gotten an ice cream cone. Matsuda had gotten three pages of the Death Note without getting caught.

* * *

"Just as planned." Light smirked as he leant up against a tree across the street from the blazing building. "You confirmed it, correct?"

"Yup, he's got the pages in his pocket."

"Perfect." Light pushed the sunglasses up higher on his face and pushed off from the tree. "And he knows where to meet us so things are going smoothly, don't you think?"

"I'm impressed he didn't get caught."

"With our distraction? Of course he didn't get caught." Light was giddy. "And soon everything will fall into place and Kira will be back."

Ryuk laughed and looked over his shoulder as Matsuda got into the car with his friends. He wondered if the man really knew what he just re-unleashed upon the world. Ryuk doubted it, but that's what made it so much fun!


	8. Trust

Writer's block is a pain, let me tell you. Anyway, I figure a short chapter is better than nothing at all – and I rather like it anyway. Thanks so much for reading!

**Trust**

Matsuda was still excited. He shouldn't have been, considering the events that caused his elated mood, but it wasn't often he did something without messing up or bringing trouble to others. However, he had to control himself somewhat or he'd draw far too much unwanted attention. Matsuda smiled brightly none-the-less as he walked down the street, humming all the while. Even Ide and Aizawa had commented on his good mood while he was at the office. And Matsuda's visit with Misa later that evening went well, too. The girl was still depressed, but she was looking a bit better. And now that his watch over her was over, Matsuda was free to head over to the hotel and meet Light.

It had been two days since the explosion during the meeting with Near and Light had finally called him to deliver the pages. Ryuk wasn't allowed to tell Light the exact date, but now that Matsuda had the page with the lawyer's name on it- they had a valid countdown. Teru Mikami would be dead in three days; suicide. The detective was thankful the description hadn't been more descriptive; that would have said far too much about Near's psyche than he cared to know. Matsuda wasn't quite sure yet what Light would do with that information, though. Would he save Mikami or let him die? Mikami did betray him while they were in the warehouse.

Matsuda shoved his free hand into his pocket as he stepped off the train and headed towards the escalator that would take him up to the street from the metro. It was almost amazing how quickly he had gotten rid of his guilt when he stopped to think about it. There wasn't even so much as a smidgeon of it left. Matsuda snorted as he held the handle of the stairs that lead up to the hotel just above the train station. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that he was working for Light (and yes, he could fully admit that to himself now.) Near and the others had a point, he was always sort of a Kira fanboy anyway. At least now he was more honest about it.

The pieces of paper in his pocket felt like lead weights, though not in a bad way. Heavy things tended to be more valuable, right? They had more mass and cost more to ship. He felt stronger being able to carry them around so easily. Matsuda nodded at the doorman as he finally made his way through the lobby. On the forth floor of this building, Kira was waiting for Matsuda. Light Yagami was waiting.

Matsuda wondered if he'd be praised.

Would someone as near perfect as Light Yagami say 'Good job' or 'Thank-you'? Matsuda almost wondered why he wanted to hear those words so badly, even if it was a lie. Was it because it was from someone Matsuda had always admired? Or just to hear those words at all? The officer scratched his nose as he hit the elevator button. Whatever it was, it was probably best not to linger on such thoughts.

Thinking was never Matsuda's strong point, anyway.

After the ding of the elevator, Matsuda stepped out in the hallway and started looking at the numbers on the door. After passing the first few, he paused in front of the hotel room he had been paying for so Light could stay hidden. It was times like this he was happy he was single or he wouldn't have been able to afford it on his salary. He took out his spare card and shoved it in the slot. After the click and the green light, Matsuda pressed onward to face the consequences of his actions.

"Did you bring any apples?"

* * *

"Well?" Near glanced over his shoulder at Gevanni. "Did you find out any information concerning the attack?"

"No one saw who planted the bombs and the cameras had been disconnected earlier." Gevanni started his report slowly and read off the pages. Near was furious over the whole event. First Light Yagami's body goes missing, and now they almost lose the Death Note. Everyone at the SPK was hoping it was a coincidence, however unlikely. The last thing anyone wanted was to get involved in another Kira nightmare. "It's a storage facility for old documents, so the security wasn't very difficult to breach. This is the first time they've actually had any real problems."

"The only item was this letter they found on the scene." Gevanni fished the note out of his folder and handed it to Near. His pale boss took it lifelessly and let it hang in the air as he read it. Gevanni wondered why he always got stuck with these chores lately. Wasn't it usually Linder who handled this? "Though, it looks to be a fanatic's attack on wasted paper that's killing trees, it's probably just something to distract from the real cause of the fire."

"Good work." Near nodded at the letter. The man's deduction had been spot on. The writing was almost intentionally mocking and over the top. If the letter was to be believed, than there would be more evidence pointing to the culprit. The bomber was far too clever to be the author of the scattered and angry letter. "Has it been sent to the lab?"

"Yes, you're holding the copy."

"Inform me of any changes."

"Sir."

"Any news on the Yagami case?"

Gevanni nearly groaned; he had been hoping to avoid that topic today. "No, sir. We still stand in the same place we were."

"I see." Near pulled a curl of white hair from his head and twisted it between his fingers. Gevanni was looking stressed so the younger man decided to have a brief moment of pity. "How's Mikami?"

"There is progress." Gevanni nodded. "He's showing signs of snapping any day now."

"Three days." Near nodded. "Be sure to make preparations. Let's not have a repeat of Yagami."

"Of course."

* * *

"Of course." Matsuda laughed and held up the plastic bag full of apples to the shinigami. Ryuk took it gratefully (also very quickly) and opened it immediately to count how many were inside. It reminded Matsuda of a small child that had just been given a present on his birthday. It almost made the giant, gangly monster rather cute. Matsuda then turned to Light and held up his other hand with a much smaller bag. "And I brought a cake Misa made for us, well me, but that doesn't matter." Matsuda chuckled. "It's chocolate."

Light's eyebrow twitched involuntarily. Misa was a subject he was hoping to avoid for as long as possible. She was highly unpredictable and that's not something he needed right now when things were going so well. Though, as Light slid his eyes toward Matsuda, he had a feeling a certain someone would be telling her about him. Light may have to take precautions to prevent Matsuda's matchmaking, Misa-loving side from coming out wen the fool was still useful. "Ah, thank-you."

Matsuda set the cake down on the desk table and pulled over a chair to sit down. He was tempted to open the box and set out slices of the cake to eat and relax, but he knew there was business to attend to first. Digging on the inside of his inner jacket pocket, Matsuda pulled out a small envelope and set it on the table in front of Light. He didn't have to tell the other man what was inside.

"Thank-you, again." Light reached over the envelope and headed towards the cake box. Matsuda had already told him when Mikami was to die, so there was no need to rush things. The detective already looked a little nervous; like he was waiting to be scolded or praised by his master. It did manage to put Light in a good mood- which meant of course: cake. "I hope this cake tastes as good as it looks."

"Wouldn't you know? I'm sure Misa made you stuff all the time." Matsuda asked innocently. Light was her fiancé. One would think he was highly familiar with her cooking.

"Ah, it's been a while." Light chuckled and sliced a thin piece for himself. "I've forgotten."

"I guess that's true." Matsuda nodded and took the slice Light put on a paper plate from the bag. He stuck a fork in the cake and took a bite of the moist delicious confection. Pretty, nice and a good cook! Light's fiancé really had it all. He was really lucky. "It's so good!"

"Yes, it is." Light nodded and took a bite of his cake. Ryuk was off chewing apples in the background and snickering at the relaxed mood in the air. "Something amusing, Ryuk?"

"Nope." The shinigami snickered. "Not a thing." The monster's eyes looked down at the paper. "I'm surprised you two haven't torn into that yet."

"There's no rush." Light laughed and set his plate down, half the cake still lingering. As tasty as it was, and as much as Light hated to admit it: L had probably ruined his ability to eat too much cake in one sitting. Light reached down and lifted up the envelope. "But since you want to see it so badly, Ryuk, than I guess I have no choice."

Matsuda took another bite of cake as Light opened the seal elegantly with a single finger. The man smiled just a bit wider when he pulled the pages out of the envelope and sat the now empty sheath down on the table. He browsed the pages as if he was reading a letter from a relative. Matsuda was impressed with his control. Matsuda held his breath when Light looked over in his direction, fork still hanging from his mouth.

"You did very well, Matsuda." Light smiled softly and watched Matsuda's eyes light up. It was nice to see such joy from so little praise. While it reminded him sadly of Misa, Matsuda had one great advantage: if Light told him to be quiet, chances are he would. Light lifted an eyebrow however when he flipped past the first page bearing Mikami's name. "Two extra pages?"

"Ah, did I forget to tell you that?" Matsuda blinked and put the fork down the plate. He could have sworn up and down he told Light everything. "It seemed like a good idea since the pages replace themselves..."

Light looked up as Matsuda started to trail off and start focusing on the cake on the table. Ryuk was watching them both with a slight chuckle just waiting to see what would happen next. However, Matsuda was starting to look fidgety; perhaps he was doubting his decision to act on his own. Light couldn't say that he completely approved of actions he wasn't aware of, but in this case there was no harm. "It's alright. It was a good idea." Light paused. "But next time be sure to tell me when you decide to do something. I'm not a fan of surprises as you can imagine."

Matsuda nodded. "Right. Sorry."

"It's alright, you were pressed for time." Light placed the sheet with Mikami's name down on the table and looked at the two blank sheets and over at the man next to him. It was true, and he did not the irony, that Matsuda was probably the most useful and reliable help he'd received to date. As long as he was on Light's side. Matsuda was also the man who shot him from an emotional break down and feelings of betrayal.

Somehow, Light had managed to regain this man's trust and gained a valuable, if dim, ally. Therefore, it was necessary to keep that trust. A sign of good faith would be required and Light had a wonderful idea of how to make that happen. "Matsuda."

"Yeah?" The detective looked up from his hands and watched as Light plucked one of the sheets out of his hand and flipped it over the desk towards Matsuda. The older man made no move to take the sheet of paper and merely stared. Why was Light handing a sheet of the Death Note over? "Light?"

"Take it." Light smiled. "I think you should keep one just in case something happens that's unplanned. I trust that you'll keep it safe."

Matsuda took the sheet with a shaky hand and was all too aware of Ryuk's eyes glaring into his back and chortling. "Do you really want me to have one?"

"I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't." Light smiled and took the other two sheets and folded them neatly and placed them back in the envelope. "And that's the last I'd like to hear about it."

"Okay." Matsuda bit his lip to keep the smile from spreading on his face. He folded the paper into a small square and placed it inside of his wallet behind the picture of Misa that was hidden beneath the fold. Once it was safely tucked away, Matsuda looked back up at the stoic teen (who had returned to his cake) and was really happy he was here. Though, he did inwardly hope that Aizawa, Mogi and Ide would forgive him if they ever found out. "Uh, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Light answered after licking his fork clean. Matsuda was almost glowing with pride from the token he had been given. It was only natural he'd become more talkative; the things Light put up with.

"What are you going to do about Mikami and the Death Note." Matsuda asked before taking another bite of cake. "You wanted the pages to create a plan, right?"

"That's correct." Light smirked. "And I'll need your help."

Matsuda nodded. "With what?"

"Stealing the body."

Matsuda paused mid-chew from another bite. Ryuk was laughing outright now in the background and his shadow loomed over his shoulder. "The body?"

"Mikami's body. Dead things can't walk on their own, you know."

"You're going to let him die?"

Light smiled. "It's only fair."

"I'm afraid you've lost me." Matsuda chuckled and set his fork down. Light's smirk had become rather distinct. More like the Kira everyone imagined in their heads. "What are you talking about?"

Light was laughing hysterically in his head. He never in a million years would have considered this plan before, but it was almost too perfect to pass up. And the perfect cover for what he was going to accomplish. Assuming Ryuk cooperated, of course. "I think it would be obvious. I'll need the body won't I?"

"To do what?"

Light leant back in his chair and crossed his fingers together. Matsuda was staring at him intently and his ego appreciated the petting. "Make him into a zombie, of course."


	9. Misa

And now Misa gets more involved. Yay! Believe it or not, I'm a fan. This fic is becoming dangerous. I'm a big fan of Light x Misa, Matsuda, Mikami or Ryuk. I'm doing my best to behave myself. I really am! Anyway; enjoy reading & reviewing and thanks for your patience!

**Misa**

It had come out of the blue.

"Hold it tighter!" Aizawa shouted as Ide struggled to keep the compress tight against the bleeding wound. The woman's chest was raising and lowering with her small shallow breaths; blood flowing from the now gaping gash just beneath her collar. "I've already called the ambulance."

Matsuda stood in the corner with towels ready to be ordered. His suit was covered in blood from the arterial spray. Misa had gotten so much better and had just been so cheerful; they had dropped their suicide watch. The opportunity must have been too great to pass up, Matsuda imagined. He watched the blood gush down her arms and Ide struggle to contain it while they waited those forever too long minutes for help to arrive. Her blonde hair was sticking to her cheek. They were only lucky that Matsuda wanted to stop by for a surprise visit dragging Ide and Aizawa behind him or it would have been too late.

He had walked in right when Misa had the scissors to her throat.

Moving without thinking, Matsuda had only managed to save her throat from being cut, but in the struggle she still created quite a gash. Matsuda had used kitchen towels and everything he could imagine to stop the bleeding with one hand while Aizawa called the ambulance. Ide had gone off to get more towels to stop the blood flow more properly and had shoved Matsuda out of the way. After that first bit of adrenaline, Matsuda had indeed fallen into sort of a shock.

He let the others take care of it from there.

"Light..." Misa choked up through the blood. "I just..." A gasp of air. "Want to see him..."

Matsuda's heart clenched and he backed up to the wall. Though, he did not get a chance to truly linger on Light sitting back in a hotel room or Misa's desperate misery as the paramedics burst into the small apartment and started bringing oxygen masks and compresses. In less than five minutes Misa was on a gurney and escorted quickly to the car downstairs to take her to the hospital. Aizawa and Ide let out deep breaths. Matsuda stayed where he was on the wall.

Misa wanted to see Light so badly that she killed herself. Matsuda had kept Light all to himself without even really thinking about just how much that would mean to Misa. he hadn't even asked Light if the man wanted to see Misa yet. Matsuda let his hand droop down at his side. How could he make this better?

"Hey," Ide walked over and rubbed Matsuda's shoulder. Matsuda had bags under his eyes and his breathing was a little heavy. It might be possible Matsuda needed a trip to the emergency room, too. He looked like he was in a light shock. "You going to be okay?"

Matsuda shook his head slowly. "I'm going to get some air. Call me when they find out if she'll be okay."

Aizawa frowned as Matsuda started to head out the door covered in bloody clothes. He rubbed his hair in frustration and started after the younger man but Ide grabbed his shoulder. "We shouldn't let him go by himself. What if he's in shock?"

"It'll be okay." Ide sighed. He was worried, but Matsuda did look like he needed a break. "Give him a little time. He really liked Misa you know."

"Alright, but call him in an hour, okay?"

Ide nodded and pat Aizawa on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go follow them to the hospital."

Aizawa sighed and headed out into the hallway; Matsuda's figure was already long gone. He prayed things would start looking up for that boy. Between Light, Near and now Misa – Aizawa wasn't sure how much more Matsuda could handle.

* * *

Mikami sat very still in his cell.

He'd exhausted all of his options at attempted suicide from choking himself to eventually caving and biting his tongue. All failed. It seemed someone didn't want him to die just yet.

It was annoying.

Mikami's only option now was to sit and think. Somehow he would show them all. He'd escape this prison and shed off this shell. No longer would he have to suffer in this world void of justice. He would be dead and deny those people the pleasure of his execution.

Assuming he could actually pull it off.

Mikami huffed.

Where was that blasted shinigami when you needed him? Didn't he babble off something about killing Mikami when he was done with everything? It just wasn't fair. He'd need some sort of miracle to kill himself at this rate. Mikami slouched into his seat on the bed and counted footsteps as they walked by. Since he was stuck in a straight jacket, Death Note-less and blindfolded they didn't think he needed to be completely separated from the rest of the inmates. How even more depressing.

However, Mikami's ears pricked up when he heard a soft clatter and the sound of something rolling. It sounded like a pen. That had rolled into his own pen of a prison. And the ex-lawyer didn't hear anyone stop to pick it up. Mikami's breath sped up as he thought of the possibilities. Once night fell he'd look for the object slowly.

Maybe God had granted him the miracle he needed.

* * *

Light hummed to himself lightly as he chewed on his apple slice. Ryuk must have been rubbing off on him. That or Matsuda. Thanks to those two munching on the stupid fruit relentlessly all the time, Light found himself eating them, too. Quite a bother. But at least they weren't obsessed with cake. Light shivered as he remembered one too many nights with L and his cake fetish. Regardless of apples and bad memories, Light was enjoying his moments of free time and spent it catching up on the news. Mikami wasn't going to die for another day or so and his plans were already set.

It was about time Light got a moment to himself.

"I'm bored."

"That's nice, Ryuk." Light clicked the remote to the next channel.

"I'm bored."

Another click to change the channel. "I heard you the first time."

"Light..." Ryuk whined. Light was just sitting there watching TV. That was it. No commentary or talking to the screen. No justice speeches. Just sitting and watching the moving pictures. He could have at least borrowed a Nintendo or something from the lobby but no. Light wanted to be boring. "Light."

"Stop it."

"I mean it! I'm really bored. Let's do something." Ryuk shook Light's shoulder.

"Quit it!"

"I'm bored..." Ryuk trailed off when the hotel door opened. Light was still staring at the TV and ignored Matsuda. (After all, why should Light worry when Matsuda was the only one coming to visit?) Light frowned a bit when the shinigami started to chuckle. Ryuk smirked and looked down at Light. "I'm not bored anymore."

"What?" Light stood up and turned around. His eyes widened and his hand gripped on the chair. Matsuda stood in the doorway covered in blood. It was caked in his hair, on his shirt and in the folds of his tie. It was dried and crusted into the fabric. The first half of Light's brain was cursing because he walked upstairs like that. He was drawing unnecessary attention! The other half reminded himself that he probably shouldn't yell at Matsuda when he was covered in blood and had a glazed look in his eyes. "Matsuda? What happened?"

"Misa," Matsuda swallowed. "She tried to kill herself. With a pair of scissors." Matsuda used his forefinger and thumb to mimic the motion of the blades. "I grabbed her and she missed, but. She's in the hospital."

Light frowned. This was _not_ something he needed right now. It was far too close to his plan with Mikami and he needed Matsuda to be on the ball for this to work. Light couldn't afford to start using the Death Note for revenge if he didn't have the freaking thing in the first place! "You should sit down, Matsuda."

"Wow, he's all covered in blood." Ryuk chuckled. "What'd ya come here for?"

"Huh?" Matsuda looked up at Ryuk and blinked. Where was he? Matsuda didn't really come to the hotel did he? "Ah, oh." Matsuda grabbed his head as it set in where he had wandered. Did he really expect Light to comfort him? Why hadn't he just gone to back to Ide or Aizawa? Or even Mogi? Why here? "I. I was just walking...I'm sorry. I've drawn attention to the room now, haven't I?" Matsuda hunched his shoulders and sniffled. "I'm sorry."

_At least he knows he screwed up._ Light thought to himself as tears started falling down Matsuda's cheeks. His quiet sobs were unnerving. Light needed him to calm down so he could fully assess the damage. Darn it! Misa was causing trouble and she wasn't even here! Light put his hands on Matsuda's shoulders. "It's alright. You said she was in the hospital, right?"

Matsuda nodded slowly and looked up into Light's face. It was obvious Light was lying through his teeth, but somehow Matsuda couldn't bring himself to care. It didn't change the fact Light was here and had his hands on Matsuda's shoulders. "Yeah...they're going to call me."

"Okay, then we need to pull ourselves together so we can answer the phone. Right?" Light smiled softly as Matsuda's shoulders slowly stopped shaking. "Let's go over to the bed and lie down, okay?"

"Alright." Matsuda let himself be led to the bed and looked down at his clothes. "I'm all covered in blood."

"Yeah. We established that already." Ryuk laughed. "Looks good on you."

"Ryuk. Shut up!" Light hissed over his shoulders.

"Jeesh, get pissy why don't you?" Ryuk shrugged and sat cross-legged on the dresser. It's not like Misa was going to die. Ryuk knew her life span already. Actually, Ryuk paused and scratched his chin. That might actually make Matsuda feel better. Ryuk looked over at Light as he pulled off Matsuda's jacket and tried to talk him out of shock. Eh, he'd tell them later.

"Okay, let's get out of the rest of these clothes and I'll bring you the robe from the bathroom, okay?" Light desperately tried to keep his voice calm as his mind whirled. Why on earth was he doing this? Oh right. He only had one alley aside from Ryuk. He was going to take all this frustration out on Mikami and Near the first chance he got. "Can you do it by yourself?"

"I'm okay." Matsuda smiled softly. Light was trying really hard to be kind. Matsuda started to unbutton his shirt and pulled it off his shoulders. He fingered the fabric gently and flicked off a piece of blood. "Hey, Light?"

"Yes?" Light answered as he came out of the bathroom with the robe. Maybe he could get Matsuda to go to sleep and just deal with him later.

"Would you visit Misa?"

Light froze and spoke very slowly as he walked back to the bed. He'd have to be very careful or he'd upset Matsuda. "I don't think that would be wise."

"Why?" Matsuda looked over at Light as the robe was dropped around his shoulders. "She'd kill herself for you. It's not like she'll betray you."

"Not on purpose she won't." Light forced a smile. "I'm not worried about her intentionally doing anything wrong but she has a habit of..." Light trailed off to think of the perfect words. "Getting herself into trouble. The less she knows the better."

"She still has her engagement ring." Matsuda swallowed and his hands started to shake around the soft terri cloth. "She really does love you."

"I know she does, but still-"

"And you don't love her at all." Matsuda smiled softly as he cut off Light. "I know that."

"Matsuda-"

"Let me finish." Matsuda's hands slowly stopped shaking. It was sudden, but in all honesty after what he saw this morning in the kitchen he had gathered up a little courage. That devotion; that love. He needed to speak. "So please. Just lie to her, okay? Say you love her. Just something so she won't try and kill herself again. I'm begging you."

"I can't. Matsuda I-"

"Do it."

Light sucked in a deep breath. His sentences had been cut off for the third time now and it was really starting to get on his nerves. "What? Ryuk what are you talking about?"

"I miss the little lady, too." Ryuk chuckled and bit into an apple. Light was by far his favorite human, but he was most fun when he was reacting to other people. Adding another member to their little club would just make things more interesting. And of course, would be the perfect revenge for his boredom earlier. Light should know better than to yell at him. "So we should go say hello."

"Ryuk!" Matsuda perked up. The shinigami agreed with him! Maybe now they could convince Light to see Misa. She deserved it. "Thank-you."

"Eh, don't thank me. It sure ain't for you." Ryuk laughed as Light's eyebrow started twitching and his fist clenched. "And I'm sure Light'll know what happens if he doesn't."

"Why you." Light snarled. "So help me..."

"What? It's not like you're doing anything for the next day or two anyway." Ryuk snickered as Light started to get that look in his eye that threatened death to even innocent individuals.

"No apples!" Light pointed his finger at the gangly beast. "If you're going to threaten me with that damn note than I'm taking away your apples!"

"Light! That's too much!"

"Please!"

Matsuda started to laugh.

"Have you lost it?" Light lifted an eyebrow. Why was that moron laughing? Wasn't Ryuk betraying him bad enough? What happened to his relaxing afternoon? "Weren't you in the middle of a breakdown or something?"

"I'm sorry." Matsuda smiled. "It's just sort of funny."

"What is?"

"Nothing." Matsuda rubbed the tears out of his eyes. If Light was going to see Misa, even if it is under threat of death, then things would be okay. Misa would be happy even if Light hated her as long as he was alive. Matsuda knew that well; because he felt the same way. "You two are just funny."

Light threw his hands up. He didn't know how to deal with these idiots. "Scoot over."

Matsuda obliged and nudged over on the mattress as Light collapsed on the bed and covered his eyes with his arms. "I'm taking a nap. Don't wake me up."

Matsuda fell back against the bed next to Light and chuckled softly. "Okay. A nap sounds good after all this anyway."

Ryuk shook his head as the two laid there next to each other. Humans really were such fun.

* * *

Ide sat next to Misa in the hospital reading a magazine. She had been stitched up and placed under constant surveillance since she was released from surgery. Ide had called Matsuda earlier, but the man hadn't picked up his phone. Ide would have been worried, but it had only been a few hours. Matsuda wasn't likely to do anything particularly stupid until after he found out how Misa was doing. He just needed his space.

Misa herself was staring at the ceiling and wondering why she hadn't seen Light yet. She was all set to go and meet him when Matsuda shoved her. Why would Matsuda get in the way? Didn't he like Light as much as she did? Shouldn't he have understood more than anyone. Misa tried to swallow but winced when she stretched the stitching. Whatever drugs they must have given her were wearing off. Misa turned her head, despite the pain, though when she heard a buzzing.

Ide jumped when his cell phone started to vibrate. He pulled it out and clicked it open when he saw the ID on the other line. He knew giving the guy some time was all they needed. Though, if it had been another hour or two he was going to go look for the man. "Matsuda?"

"I'm so sorry Ide!" The young detective's voice rang through with a bit of distress. Ide was just happy Matsuda sounded like himself. "I fell asleep on my couch and missed your call! How's Misa?"

"Calm down, Matsuda." Ide looked over at Misa (who was now staring at him) and smiled. "She's fine. Just woke up in fact."

"I'm so relieved!" Matsuda's sigh of joy could be heard over the phone. "Can I talk to her?"

Ide looked over at Misa. "I guess so, but don't talk for long. Her voice is probably sore." Ide covered the phone. "It's Matsuda. He wants to talk to you, is that alright?"

Misa considered telling the man 'no' straight out for interfering, but she supposed he meant well. The actress nodded and let Ide hand her the phone. "Hello?" She rasped out.

"Misa. Don't speak."

The blonde's breath stopped. That was most definitely not Matsuda's voice on the phone.

"Don't say anything and don't let Ide know you're talking to someone other than Matsuda."

"Yes, Matsuda." Misa replied the best she could. Her heart was racing and she used every bit of acting skill she possessed to keep from crying. This had to be a dream. Maybe she had died.

It was her Light. Her Light was on the phone.

"Misa, I can't talk now but once you get out of the hospital, Matsuda will come take you to me." Light paused and Misa bit her lip. "Don't do anything that stupid again, Misa. I was worried."

"Yes, I won't do it again. Never again." Misa lost it and started to sob. "I won't worry you any more."

"Good-bye Misa."

Misa clicked off the phone and handed it back to Ide. Her Light was alive. He cared! He was worried about her. Light was back. Matsuda really was helping her! She'd have to thank him. If she'd gone through with it she wouldn't' have heard her beloved Light's voice again.

Ide blinked at the sobbing woman who had such a bright smile on her face and down at the phone. He'd have to ask Matsuda just what he said to give her such a change of heart. He smiled softly. Maybe there was romance budding for his good buddy. Heavens knows the man needed some company. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes, Mr. Ide." Misa smiled. "Talking with Matsuda" _Light "_has made me feel much better."

"Good to hear."

* * *

"Happy?" Light snarled as he tossed the phone on the bed.

Matsuda and Ryuk high-fived each other and the genius shook his head. He truly was surrounded by idiots. Blathering idiots who had no appreciation for the work it took to adjust for massive changes in plans.

Light looked over his shoulder at Matsuda (who was now clean) and Ryuk splitting an apple as they talked over Misa's eventual arrival into the group and sighed.

If this was karma, nature had a sick sense of humor.


	10. One More Team Mate

'ello all. Yeah, I know. Two years later right? To those of you that were still waiting for this update – wow. You guys rock. Really, you do. As far as an explanation – mostly writer's block and a slight loss of interest in Death Note. (If you watch me you may have noticed a bunch of Transformers/Batman fictions getting some love…) and the fact I was trying to figure out what I was doing. When I started this fic, I wanted something more light-hearted & humorous than deep and serious. But it started leaning towards the serious side a bit more than I'd like, so hopefully this chapter brings it back into the fun stuff.

Plus, Light's too much fun to tease & no one does it better than Ryuk. So, on that note – Thanks everyone for your patience and if all else fails you can go read my TF fics while you wait for more. XD Thanks for reading & reviewing!

**One More Team Mate**

"Why do things like this always happen to me, Ryuk?" Light groaned as he rubbed at his temples with the tips of his fingers. Matsuda had left to go pick up Misa from the hospital so he had some time to himself to try and sort out this social jigsaw puzzle mess. A piece of half eaten cake sat on his desk that disgusted Light to no end because all this stress caused him to have a craving. For Cake. He'd had a craving for chocolate cake with vanilla icing which made him, of course, think of L and that always put Light in a foul mood. "Why?"

Ryuk snickered and took a bite out of an apple. A yellow one this time- Matsuda had insisted Ryuk expand his apple palate. Ryuk knew that Light wasn't expecting a real answer, but the shinigami decided to give him one anyway. "I think you humans have a little story about mice and men?"

Light turned deftly on his heel and pointed directly at the smirking shinigami. "Yes, but it shouldn't go wrong all the time!"

"If I recall, quite a few of your plans worked." Ryuk shrugged and went back to watching Light pace. "And this really isn't ruining your plans, I don't think."

"Misa ruins everything she touches." Light snarled and moved to sit back at the desk and mentally prepare himself. Misa meant trouble and both Ryuk and Matsuda were forcing him to play nice. Though Ryuk's threats held more weight, Matsuda was sure to add in his own meager ones involving talking to the local detectives about his predicament. Not that Light actually believed Matsuda would do it, but that wasn't the point. The real point? Light had to play the happy fiancé again: or else. "Getting her involved was my downfall. I just know it."

"But she made things so much fun!" Ryuk chuckled and gazed off into the distance happily as memories of the bubbly little lady flooded his mind. "Only human girl I've ever met who wanted to give me a hug."

Light scoffed and shoved a forkful of cake in his mouth. He spoke around the food in an off moment of rudeness. "More proof she's missing vital connections in her brain."

Ryuk poked Light in the head with a pointed finger. "So you gotta' have a screw loose to be crazy about you then?"

"Apparently. It would definitely explain you and Matsuda." Light smirked and put the fork down on the table willing himself to avoid another piece of the pastry. Light then turned towards the window and watched the cars busy down below before Light buried his head in his arms. "Just tell me this is all a dream and that Misa isn't coming here?"

"It's all a dream and Misa isn't coming."

"Thank-you."

Ryuk paused as Light let out a relieved sigh in his arms. He tilted his head and took another bite out of his apple. "You know I'm lying, right?"

Light threw a stationary pad at Ryuk's head.

* * *

Aizawa was in disbelief.

Misa Amane was walking out of the hospital arm in arm with Touta Matsuda of all people. He almost believed it when Ide told him she was kind to the idiot over the phone, but she was hanging off his arm with the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her face. Had Matsuda said something that profound? Hell, her lifted mood and his company allowed her to leave the hospital early (the fact the wound on her neck had been less severe than they originally thought helped too, but still.) So, Misa was leaving arm in arm with her current suicide-watch guardian Matsuda and looking all the world like she was going on a date. The detective couldn't stop the thoughts from circling in his mind as he tried to find some logic to it. Aizawa felt a slight hit to his side and looked down at Ide who's first was still on his arm. "Problem?"

"If you don't wipe that scowl off your face, Matsuda's going to think you're upset with him taking Misa out." Ide chuckled and thumped Aizawa's arm again. Despite his superior's misgivings, Ide was very happy for Matsuda. It was no secret he was head over heels for that girl. "And we both know it's good for them."

"But it doesn't make any sense." Aizawa muttered and sighed when Matsuda opened a car door for Misa. The younger detective wasn't a _bad _man by any means, but he still wasn't exactly in the Light Yagami ballpark when it came to Misa's taste. Plus, the two were supposedly on their way to her apartment to change clothes. But change clothes for what? Was he really taking her out on a date? "I don't understand what's going on all of a sudden."

"Really? There's a lot of evidence to support this if you think about it." Ide wondered aloud and crossed his arms. He started to tick off his thoughts on his fingers as he mused. "They both adored Light and the Yagami family. They've both suffered a huge loss and," Ide paused before dropping his voice, "they're both in the same mental bracket."

Aizawa snorted and tried to cover up the laugh with his hand. It almost wasn't a fair statement, but coming from Matsuda's best friend it was pretty funny. At the very least he meant no harm in pointing out Matsuda's more, childish, nature. "I guess there is that." He rubbed his head before turning back to the building to head for his own car on the other side. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. Maybe it was about time for something good to happen to that kid. "And it's not like Matsuda hasn't had a crush on her since forever."

"I hope this works out for them." Ide spoke, happy that he and Aizawa were on the same page as far as Matsuda's feelings were concerned. He smiled watching his friend drive away with the prettiest girl they'd ever met. "They both deserve it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Aizawa nodded and clapped Ide on the shoulder briefly before rubbing his nose. He'd think about Matsuda and Misa later when his head was clear. "If you'll excuse me, I've got a little lady of my own to visit."

Ide waved as his remaining friend disappeared in their respective directions. He took one last look back where Matsuda's car had been and tried to ignore the slight feeling in his chest that something big was coming.

* * *

Misa was standing outside the hotel door breathing heavily. According to Matsuda, Light was sitting on the other side of his door waiting for her. The ride on the way there had transformed Misa from a happy, ecstatic woman to a cluster of nerves and jitters masquerading as a girl. She was barely able to change into a new, cuter, outfit when they reached her house and climbed back into the car. Matsuda had been rambling nervously the entire time apologetic as a puppy who'd been caught chewing on a child's toy. Misa had ignored him until they got back into the car and her nerves calmed slightly as the topic shifted to what was really important.

_Light. _

During the second car ride to the hotel, her clumsy friend had also explained everything. The Zombie, the apples, the plan. All of it was quick and in needed of deeper explanation that Misa assumed she would be getting from her beloved, but most subjects were touched. It was almost as if he was trying to justify himself for keeping everything a secret. Misa had already forgiven him; if Light had given her a direct order she would have followed it, too. Misa understood and she wished Matsuda would pick up on that connection. He did, however, also mention Light may not be happy Matsuda had explained, but he felt it was important. She had a right to know, he said. Promise or not and Misa had yet to weigh how she felt about that.

But that was in the car, now she was standing outside a door dressed with a hotel number trying to breathe and make sure that none of this was a dream. That she hadn't been able to kill herself and that Light had really talked to her over the phone and that gods of death were real. Kira had been real and he was behind this door. Misa lifted a hand armed with the key to open the door and hesitated slightly. She had waited and wanted so long to see Light again and her she was unable to open the single obstacle in her way.

Matsuda himself had been quiet and did his best to allow Misa time to gather herself before she entered the room. The girl was dressed up in a cheery pink outfit she hadn't worn in a long time. Her frilled skirt was adorable and her face was painted; lips a very adorable shade of pink. Once again, Matsuda had been taken in by just how lucky the man in this hotel room was to have a girl like Misa. She wanted to look her best, she had said as shaky hands pulled on an equally frilly pink overcoat. Light had liked this outfit on her; he had said so. Matsuda sucked in a breath and prayed desperately Light wouldn't break her again. That he'd lie through his teeth and make Misa happy.

She at least deserved the same courtesy that Matsuda himself was receiving.

Misa held the key just over the slot in the door and closed her eyes, frozen in place. She twitched when a warm hand fell over hers and tightened slightly with a reassuring squeeze. Misa looked to the side to see Matsuda smiling, hand still covering hers. "Matsuda?"

"We shouldn't keep him waiting, right?" Matsuda pressed his hand down with Misa's and watched as the little light turned green. Misa pulled the key out herself and pushed the handle down to the door as she pushed it open on her own.

Light looked up as the door opened and couldn't help but think _finally_ as Misa entered the room with Matsuda trailing behind her. She was wearing a familiar pink dress and her steps were timid as she entered the room. Ryuk had notified Light the moment the two had arrived, but they had been standing outside the hotel room door, probably drawing attention, for a good fifteen minutes. The wait to face his doom had been agonizing, really. Light stood up from the desk fully intending to meet the girl before she could cross the room and smiled happily despite his temper, Ryuk giggling behind him like a loon. "Mi-"

Matsuda gaped as Light hit the ground, cut off mid sentence by Misa's (quite impressive) punch to Light's face. Ryuk was now falling over himself, laughing hysterically, but Matsuda was frozen in place. Misa looked ready to kill something and Light was still on the ground groaning. Matsuda watched her stalk over to the boy on the ground and he quickly backed up against the wall to stay out of their way.

"Misa! What the hell was that?" Light's hand was covering his throbbing eye and temple as he watched the girl decked out in pink loom over him. He looked over at the hand she had punched him with and noticed the blood around her knuckles. Light pulled a hand down and realized himself that his head was bleeding. His tone was an odd mix of disbelief and anger. "You punched me with your engagement ring."

"And you deserve worse!" Misa shouted as she looked at her beautiful Light, in the flesh sitting on the ground. This was no dream. He was real and here and now that everything was all right in the world – Misa could finally get angry. "How could you come back to life as a zombie and not come see me immediately!? I'm your fiancé!"

Light ducked his head back into his hands and groaned. That, that _zombie_ thing was back again and now Misa was doing it. Couldn't she have just hit him again? He grit his teeth and seeing Ryuk now staring at him intently from the corner, remembered to play nice. "I didn't exactly tell anyone, Misa."

"You told Matsuda!" She pointed at said man trying to blend into the wall and inching towards Ryuk to further hide. Smart man. "How is he more important than me!?"

"He found out on his own, Misa." Light reasoned and stood up from the ground to regain his height advantage. He held his hands out defensively in case she lunged. "That's all."

"I almost killed myself to see you, Light Yagami" Misa's voice was even and her eyes locked onto Light's. "I never would have forgiven you if I had succeeded and not been able to see you on the other side because you were here."

Light's ready reply was cut off from the sheer gravity of Misa's statement. She was deadly serious about this whole thing. And suddenly Light was amused, because even if they had both been dead there was nothing to see because the only thing that waited for them on the other side was a whole lot of _nothing._ Though, knowing his luck, Misa would have found him. Somehow. Yes, she would be the one person to hunt him down in nothing and make sure he was never rid of her. It was almost funny. Light bit his lip fighting the morbid smile. No, it was definitely funny.

Misa waited for Light to say something back, but it appeared he was off in his own little world, with an odd smirk edging at his lips. He was holding back a laugh. Light was going to laugh at her for something so serious! Misa took a deep breath and let it out with a tiny smile of her own. Light hadn't changed at all; not one little bit. But, Misa supposed, when you love someone, you love them completely. Flaws and uncaring attitude and all.

Light flinched when arms found their way around his shoulders and a head digging into his shoulder, blonde hair under his nose. The grip was suffocating and he could feel Misa breathe him into herself. Apparently her roller coaster of emotions was down the slope of the track. Her arms were warm around his middle; Light had almost forgotten what a real hug felt like.

"I missed you so much." Misa whispered. Light was firm and whole in her arms and it just felt _right._ Misa didn't know how she had possibly lived so long without this. Her voice was quiet and tiny; for Light's ear's only. "Hate me if you want. Laugh at Misa and her feelings if that's what you need to do. I don't care, just please, please don't leave me again."

Light finally closed the hug with his own arms and rubbed Misa's back with his thumb. He looked over at Matsuda who was fiercely rubbing his eyes to stop his own tears and Ryuk who was shaking with silent laughter. Like he had a choice about this whole ordeal. "I'm not going anywhere, Misa. Not again."

"Thank-you." Misa sighed happily before opening her eyes. She looked up to take in his face that she had memorized time and time again and gasped audibly scaring the other two voyeurs in the room to attention. Throwing her hands over her mouth, Misa squeaked. Her voice came out in a sort of shock that sounded as if she'd completely forgotten the events of only a few mere minutes before now. "You're bleeding!"

Mood completely shattered with the idiocy of her statement, Light felt no remorse yelling right back at her. "Because you hit me with a diamond ring!"

"Well! Well!" Misa's cheeks puffed up in defense as she grasped for words, anger in full force once again. "You didn't come see me! What did you expect me to do?"

"Hug me! Squeal that you missed me! Maybe announce you were angry!" Light threw his hands up. "Not hit me in the face!" He pointed at the wound. "And now I'm bleeding."

"It's okay! I'll take care of it!" Misa dashed off to the other side of the room and stood in front of Matsuda. He was now fighting a smile, clearly amused by her and Light's arguing. Well, that wouldn't do at all! Misa and her Light needed to get some things straight and they didn't need a couple of perverts staring at them while Misa laid down some new laws. Thankfully, she had a good excuse to get rid of him. "Do we have first aid supplies?"

"Uh, not in the room." Matsuda answered slowly trying to avoid bringing a woman's wrath upon himself. He noticed that Ryuk had slunk away back to hide behind Light.

"Then go get some!" Misa shoved at the man until he started walking towards the door. She turned the handle and flung the door open, hand shifting from Matsuda's arm to his back with s hove. "Go, go, go! He's bleeding!"

"I'm going!" Matsuda yelped before he found himself in the hallway. A few seconds later, Ryuk phased through the wall with a slightly horrified look on his face. Matsuda stared at the door and back at the _god of death._ "She kicked you out too?"

Ryuk looked down at the stupid man and pointed back towards the wall, still slightly in shock. Human girls were _scary._ "She wanted them to be alone."

At the sound of Light yelping and Misa yelling, Matsuda and Ryuk quickly dashed down the hallway together with the intention of making it one very, very long shopping trip.

* * *

Misa and Matsuda were sleeping on the hotel bed, exhausted from earlier events. Matsuda and Ryuk had returned to an overturned room and a very disheveled Light and Misa breathing heavily on opposite sides of the bed. Light's shirt had been open and Misa's sleeves ripped. Ryuk was mourning a few apples that had been squashed or smashed against walls. Neither Light nor Misa had any intention of sharing what had gone on in the room in the few hours Matsuda and Ryuk had been absent acquiring bandages and new apples and said detective and shinigami had no intention of asking.

It was for the best of all members of Team Kira and they liked it that way.

Chats, rambling and innocent conversation complete with giggling had followed now that the mood was much lighter and the two 'lovebirds' had gotten everything out of their systems. Ryuk had been an active participant in said conversations amused by how much it annoyed Light that such a huge recap of events was needed to get Misa fully into the loop. Light himself had kept up polite conversation and made points when necessary but made no effort to cover up his irritation with the other two. It seems he no longer felt the fake smiles and buttering he made use of previously to keep their good moods were needed. Ryuk couldn't decide which was more entertaining: Fake Light or Grumpy Light.

At the moment, the boy was dead to the world in the lounge chair he had fancied since entering the hotel facing the window. Light's head had lolled over and his breathing had evened, he wasn't asleep just yet but his eyes were closed. Ryuk almost hated to wake him, but there was something that needed addressing. He poked at the boy's shoulder with a clawed finger, rings clinking together. "Hey, Light."

Light remained still in the chair hoping Ryuk would just go away and bother him some other time. He wanted to _sleep_ already. After about four more pokes and a sharp tug to his shoulder, Light let out a deep breath. "Yes, Ryuk?" Light mumbled as he shifted in the chair trying to get more comfortable. Ryuk poked him in the shoulder again, clearly wanting his full attention. Light cracked an eye open to stare at the stupid thing that didn't need sleep. "What?"

The shinigami chuckled at the glazed, angry look coming in his direction. "Did you forget the time?"

"The time?" Light looked down at his watch, glancing at Matsuda and Misa as they slept soundly, sprawled on the hotel bed. It was almost two in the morning. "What about it?"

Ryuk tapped the face of the watch and his grin widened, showing off his crooked sharp teeth. "It's not so important to me, but I'm pretty sure you care about what time it is."

"It's two o'clock." The boy spoke blandly as the shinigami chuckled even louder and watched as Ryuk fell back to sit against the window. What was so important about it being two in the morn- Light jerked upright and his eyes widened like saucers as it hit him like a punch to the gut. "Mikami!"


End file.
